![]() ![]() Using the dialogue tag ‘whispered’ is very common. Overall, I would not use the word ‘accused’ as a dialogue tag. In this example, if I was relying on the word ‘accused’ to convey the anger or irrationality in the character, then I would spruce up the dialogue and see if it worked with the word ‘said’ instead. If you can’t convey the emotion or meaning of the dialogue with a simple tag such as ‘said,’ you’ll want to do some revision work on your dialogue. The last thing you want your dialogue tags to become is a crutch for your writing. We can infer the accusation from what’s in the quotation marks and do not need the narrator to directly tell us the speaker is accusing somebody. In a situation like this, the dialogue tag becomes repetitive. The words that the character is speaking do the accusing, right? It’s pretty hard for a phrase like “you did it” to not be accusatory. “It was someone in this room,” she accused all of us. However, when used as a dialogue tag, it becomes redundant. You might see it in narration in a sentence like, “He accused me of cheating.” Here, the word accused makes sense and is a-okay to use. The word accused is pretty common with young writers. Other examples of dialogue tagsīefore we talk about why ‘said’ is my favorite dialogue tag, let’s look at some other common tags we see in new writers, and if I would use them in my own writing. So, ‘smiled’ would not count as a dialogue tag, rather an action. The narrator announces the words the character said in quotes, and then tells us the character is smiling. The smile is another thought the narrator is having. This is something that they’re doing independently of the words they’re saying. In the last two examples, we get actions from the characters. It’s part of the same thought from the narrator. The words ‘said’ and ‘yelled’ are dependent on the words the character is saying here. They’re talking strictly about the voice of the character. ‘Said’ and ‘yelled’ both convey how the words are being said. You may have noticed from the examples that the first two sentences contain a word that describes the vocals of the dialogue. Let’s talk about why that isn’t the case. Some people may be inclined to say the word ‘smiled’ here is a dialogue tag. “Honey!” She came in through the front door. There is no dialogue tag in the sentence: Let’s also take a look at what is not a dialogue tag. So, what are dialogue tags? They’re the part of the quotation that states something is being said. ![]() Let’s chat about everything you need to know about dialogue tags. Learning the correct way to use dialogue tags will not only add another tool to your writer’s toolbox, but your work will read as professional, authoritative writing does. If you’re using dialogue tags wrong, you’re stunting your growth as a writer. Dialogue tags are commonly misused with young writers, and can often be a crutch for you to lean on. ![]()
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