tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post1915131021158356693..comments2024-03-29T07:43:01.003+00:00Comments on Help! I Need a Publisher!: DIALOGUE TAGSNicola Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-12471246122989292572010-10-15T23:52:44.611+01:002010-10-15T23:52:44.611+01:00Aw, fabulous post. Brilliant examples.Aw, fabulous post. Brilliant examples.Carolina M. Valdez Schneiderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11589934533051907801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-62626948465243949132010-10-10T07:08:50.715+01:002010-10-10T07:08:50.715+01:00Glad to be as sparrows atop the telephone wire of ...Glad to be as sparrows atop the telephone wire of mutual twittering.Whirlochrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09846196906206886945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-79637017334323860242010-10-10T00:39:15.326+01:002010-10-10T00:39:15.326+01:00Great discussions! I love this from jtwebster book...Great discussions! I love this from jtwebster books:<br /><br />Words shouldn't stand between the story and the reader, they should melt away to be replaced by images in the reader's mind.<br /><br />That sums up the perfect read for me.<br /><br />badas2010: maybe your problem is related to the 'textual rhythm' thing that M. J. Galleon mentions. I often find, after I've cut JaneFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03920957855661479676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-33518381024448169182010-10-09T23:11:42.447+01:002010-10-09T23:11:42.447+01:00Really good post, I think, Nicola; just love: &quo...Really good post, I think, Nicola; just love: "After all, when you go to a puppet show, do you want to see the puppeteer?" So true, and applied to the author's voice as well, sure you'd agree. Transparency, I think it's called?<br /><br />:-)David John Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01524610087056533062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-9351002382647635152010-10-09T21:23:37.775+01:002010-10-09T21:23:37.775+01:00badas2010 - firstly, what your family/friends thin...badas2010 - firstly, what your family/friends think is entirely irrelevant unless they actually know what they're looking for, as critics, not as ordinary readers. (Sorry). Now, if you really think it's now jerky, clearly you have taken out the wrong things. (Though jerky can also be interesting...) You have to first know the rules, and then decide how to apply them. I tell yu the rules, Nicola Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-51647493520349905512010-10-09T20:08:53.363+01:002010-10-09T20:08:53.363+01:00Awesome examples! Now I want to know what happene...Awesome examples! Now I want to know what happened!Julie Musilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02150454913885915017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-4297855387663098352010-10-09T18:56:21.376+01:002010-10-09T18:56:21.376+01:00but please tell us what happened next? Did Carmell...but please tell us what happened next? Did Carmelle...michael 'hazeltree' thompsonhttp://www.englishrosegarden.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-77861763931427251422010-10-09T18:17:55.908+01:002010-10-09T18:17:55.908+01:00I've been reading about this a lot recently an...I've been reading about this a lot recently and as I'm in the middle of a huge editing job on everything I've ever written I've become very aware of it.<br />I've found that my earlier writing seemed to me and mine to flow smoothly and now I've de-adverbed and de-tagged it seems more jerky!<br />Is. A. Puzzlement!badas2010https://www.blogger.com/profile/07860051071493877253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-47902961007523958492010-10-09T15:52:11.615+01:002010-10-09T15:52:11.615+01:00Whirlochre - I'm certainly not into any tag-fr...Whirlochre - I'm certainly not into any tag-free vogue either. All I've said is that tags should be used when necessary. As with other types of words. My point is that often they are not only not necessary but are an intrusion. Never would I suggest omitting dialogue tags when they helped the reader and I agree that it's very annoying to have to try to work out who's speaking, Nicola Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-24299460422483262532010-10-09T08:59:28.210+01:002010-10-09T08:59:28.210+01:00One could take the elimination of dialogue tags a ...One could take the elimination of dialogue tags a bit further and do away with quotation marks, as Tobias Woolff does in 'Old School'.<br /><br />His writing is of a sufficiently high standard so that the reader can accurately infer when a character is speaking. It's an impressive technique and surprisingly naturalistic technique. Yet Why?' I interrogated myself quizzically.<br />Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07565774246519564335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-9314679424425304642010-10-09T00:42:19.008+01:002010-10-09T00:42:19.008+01:00Been following this blog of yours for quite a whil...Been following this blog of yours for quite a while now, but I've never once left a comment. And now that I finally am, I feel a bit remiss, because my first comment is going to disagree with the points you've made. Usually, I tend to agree with you or, failing that, am later persuaded. <br /><br />But oh well. <br /><br />As a few other folks have said, dialogue tags have been getting a George M. Frosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02775956087855415064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-52357716517066615562010-10-08T22:53:47.170+01:002010-10-08T22:53:47.170+01:00"It draws the reader into the conversation, r..."It draws the reader into the conversation, relegating the author (me) to a very appropriate sideline. After all, when you go to a puppet show, do you want to see the puppeteer?"<br /><br />This is a real gem Nicola, that could be applied to more than just dialogue tags, for example over-writing. <br />Words shouldn't stand between the story and the reader, they should melt away to J.T. Websterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18042422842347246547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-52285738821626309472010-10-08T22:39:57.867+01:002010-10-08T22:39:57.867+01:00Aagghhh!!!!! I gave a young writer a helping hand ...Aagghhh!!!!! I gave a young writer a helping hand the other day. They were actually given an exercise intended to make them use such words...use them to excess. She wrote it that way at first. Then she read it and looked at me and said, "It sounds wrong." (I had her print it off and then edit out the excess and she took both versions to school.)catdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959328192182156574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-29447012859905763732010-10-08T21:39:35.860+01:002010-10-08T21:39:35.860+01:00Good post, and wholly agree about avoiding unneces...Good post, and wholly agree about avoiding unnecessary dialogue tags. But I don't think Blyton overused them - she tended to stick to he/she said. Her books were often banned from school libraries for using too simple language which didn't stretch young readers' comprehension, as I recall. I may be remembering wrongly, but I do know that there was no Blyton in my primary school Kath McGurlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02526923882402757423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-91046631731323707442010-10-08T20:24:59.729+01:002010-10-08T20:24:59.729+01:00At the risk of being repetitious I'll say what...At the risk of being repetitious I'll say what I always do about dialogue tags - they can be used for so much more than saying who said what. Maybe it's just a lit fic thing, maybe it's not, but if you care about the rhythm, the musicality of your language, you can use "s/he said/says" to make your words SOUND right - in particular to help your sentences resolve properly. Dan Hollowayhttp://eightcuts.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-71412843478221691192010-10-08T18:37:57.099+01:002010-10-08T18:37:57.099+01:00I get this... I really do. And I try to use thing...I get this... I really do. And I try to use things like thoughts, actions and facial expressions in there. There is one place though, where he said she said becomes IMPERATIVE (parties... when there are a LOT of possible speakers, and giving every one of them an action makes the reader lose the conversation entirely)<br /><br />and there is one TYPE of tag I object to being objected against... Hart Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17599570189253229318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-75698970205636065502010-10-08T17:13:17.864+01:002010-10-08T17:13:17.864+01:00That's why, Sheila, it's best to find a ha...That's why, Sheila, it's best to find a happy medium. You can only dispense totally with dialogue tags for a short while and never when there are more than two people involved.<br /><br />And using one form of tag--either all before or all afterwards--is awful. <br /><br />Writing is more about how things sound than one might think. Keep reading what you write out aloud to oneself. Sally Zigmondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07520579251842006765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-21495298809315923292010-10-08T14:42:18.627+01:002010-10-08T14:42:18.627+01:00Great examples! Thanks for sharing.Great examples! Thanks for sharing.Laura S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13934230198562773803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-39287698068513665182010-10-08T13:18:05.993+01:002010-10-08T13:18:05.993+01:00I was at a writing workshop once where the tutor u...I was at a writing workshop once where the tutor used an extract from something by Hemingway to illustrate that dialogue tags were unnecessary. Unfortunately she and the person who was helping her read it out got completely confused halfway through about who was meant to be saying what, due to the complete lack of tags! Unless maybe she was actually trying to illustrate the opposite of what she sheilamcperryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02444979085877277654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-13197227508337685942010-10-08T12:28:57.227+01:002010-10-08T12:28:57.227+01:00At risk of sounding like a heretic doomed to the l...At risk of sounding like a heretic doomed to the literary dustbin of oblivion, I'm going to stick up for dialogue tags.<br /><br />The examples you give are truly horrendous, and true horrendousness has no place in literature (or writing of any kind).<br /><br />My problem is that I'm not much for this new tag-free vogue — and I do believe it is a vogue rather than a storytelling truth Whirlochrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09846196906206886945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-67193645622866367732010-10-08T12:23:26.337+01:002010-10-08T12:23:26.337+01:00I'm currently editing a novel for an author nw...I'm currently editing a novel for an author nwho has put I said, He said, BEFORE the dialogue, the whole way through the book. I found it very disconcerting & difficult to read. But I'm having trouble convincing the author that the tags, when used, should come after the speech, otherwise it's VERY hard work for the reader. The novel's written in the first person, and the Averill Buchanannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-54245593137195655012010-10-08T11:17:50.086+01:002010-10-08T11:17:50.086+01:00@Mark You're quite right. I can't think of...@Mark You're quite right. I can't think of a Holmes/Watson encounter in which one or the other didn't ejaculate at some point. Simpler, happier times.Sarah Hilaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-54989078371871918972010-10-08T11:14:49.765+01:002010-10-08T11:14:49.765+01:00@Sarah Hilary
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson eja...@Sarah Hilary <br /><br />Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson ejaculated all over the place from what I remember.<br /><br />They were simpler times...Mark Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11183394221961369630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-89010548033088438062010-10-08T11:10:17.720+01:002010-10-08T11:10:17.720+01:00Georgette Heyer was very fond of the dialogue tag ...Georgette Heyer was very fond of the dialogue tag "ejaculated" as in "Godsooth madam!" he ejaculated.<br /><br />This prompted me, at the age of 10, to use it in a spy story written for a friend: "A traitor!" he ejaculated.<br /><br />My friend's response was all the lesson I ever needed in how to avoid tags like this in future. (Word verification is "comed&Sarah Hilaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-9942859786482112302010-10-08T11:00:22.250+01:002010-10-08T11:00:22.250+01:00Coolio. This makes me happy as I only put them in ...Coolio. This makes me happy as I only put them in to help avoid confusion, say a conversation between three people.<br /><br />Quite interested on how to handle conversations between multiple people.Mark Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11183394221961369630noreply@blogger.com