DIALOG TAGS
[©2024 Terri Branson • All Rights Reserved]

Always use proper placement and punctuation for dialog tags in sentences that contain active dialog. Never start a sentence with a dialog tag, as that instead creates a quote.

Dialog is present tense with characters speaking to each other, while the rest of the paragraph remains in simple past tense. Therefore, dialog is a living thing (the present), while dialog tags are tools (the past).

The HORSE (dialog) pulls the CART (tag).

EXAMPLES:

CORRECT DIALOG: “What are you doing?” he asked the girl. “Don’t you know it’s unwise to throw rocks into a dragon’s cave?”

INCORRECT DIALOG: He asked the girl, “What are you doing? Don’t you know it’s unwise to throw rocks into a dragon’s cave?”

QUOTE: He had asked the girl: “What are you doing? Don’t you know it’s unwise to throw rocks into a dragon’s cave?”