"Nothing engages a reader more than realistic dialogue and nothing disgruntles a reader more than a phrase that is contrived, clichéd and unnatural; it will pull a reader away from your lovingly crafted prose quicker than a flat character or a thin plot could ever do." ~Whoosh! Editing
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I've been critiquing and editing for a long time. Even before I came to Wattpad. Let me be absolutely honest with you: whether it's here, or elsewhere, I always end up fixing the SAME THINGS. So if I could give all of the 18 million users on this site/app only one tip, it would be how to write proper dialogue.
Dialogue is the monster under Wattpad's bed.
Tag everyone you know. NOW! Just do it. Please, don't make me beg, because I will...
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Hopefully you aren't going to deny your fellow Earthlings a shot at incredible dialogue... I'm assuming you have a beating heart that will allow you to let them in on some really good advice here...
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Section I
How to format dialogue
This is a big one. Know how to write basic sentences correctly, so when it's your character's turn to take the wheel, you won't be running into any trees on the freeway (yes, freeway, a place where there should not be trees unless you've veered completely off the road). 🌲🌲 💥 🚗
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"Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time." ~George Bernard Shaw
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Da Rules:
1. Enclose the spoken words with double quotation marks.
"I love it when that happens."
2. ⚜️Dialogue tags (the he asked/she said portions) stay outside the quotes and get separated by a comma.⚜️
Sam said, "I'll never do that again."
"Don't be a sissy," said Bill. "Let's get back in line and ride this beast again."
⚜️Note: When dialogue ends in a question or exclamation mark, the words that follow start in lower case.⚜️
"What's new?" she asked.
3. Actions that occur before or after the dialogue go in a separate sentence. For example, If Cindi screamed and then spoke, you write it this way:
Cindi screamed.
"Oh my God!"
On the other hand, if Cindi screamed out the words, use a comma instead of a period (so that it's all part of the same sentence).
Cindi screamed, "Oh my God!"
4. 🏆If the dialogue ends with an ellipsis (...) do not add a comma or any other punctuation inside the quotation marks.🏆
"I guess you'll go back to running your company and I will..." her voice drifted off.
5. If you have to quote something within the dialogue, use single quotation marks.
Bill laughed, "When that ghost jumped out and said, 'Boo!' you screamed like a little girl."
6. Start a new paragraph every time you change speakers. If the speaker performs actions linked to the dialogue, keep everything in the same paragraph. Why? Readers easily lose track of which character is speaking. A new paragraph helps readers by signalling a change.
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