Dialogue Tags
LR Progress: Revision 2.0 - Flow & M-R
(title: Spirit Dancer)
6,319 / 22,000(28.72%)
Finished the first of the three. I think I caught a lot more errors than usual. Yay! Of course, I have put the pieces back together so even when I'm done with the third chunk, there would be some more work to do.
For now, I'll focus on this style of revision.
For some time, I was a bit confused on the usage of dialogue tags.
I was using:
"--done," said [character_name] with [action].
And while I have seen this usage in published books, more recent ones seem to flip the verb and the pronoun:
"--done," [character_name] said with [action].
Here is what I found[fiction-writers-mentor.com]:
"I think we should go this way," said Jane.
"You're right," said Mark.
"The other way might be better," said Steve.
"No, I think Jane's right," said Martha.
(Note that the text read said Jane (or whoever) rather than Jane said. You can use either, depending on what sounds right and works for you. But if you're using pronouns, always put them first, e.g. he said rather than said he.)
(title: Spirit Dancer)
6,319 / 22,000(28.72%)
Finished the first of the three. I think I caught a lot more errors than usual. Yay! Of course, I have put the pieces back together so even when I'm done with the third chunk, there would be some more work to do.
For now, I'll focus on this style of revision.
For some time, I was a bit confused on the usage of dialogue tags.
I was using:
"--done," said [character_name] with [action].
And while I have seen this usage in published books, more recent ones seem to flip the verb and the pronoun:
"--done," [character_name] said with [action].
Here is what I found[fiction-writers-mentor.com]:
"I think we should go this way," said Jane.
"You're right," said Mark.
"The other way might be better," said Steve.
"No, I think Jane's right," said Martha.
(Note that the text read said Jane (or whoever) rather than Jane said. You can use either, depending on what sounds right and works for you. But if you're using pronouns, always put them first, e.g. he said rather than said he.)