dialogue tags and action beats
i’m not gonna spend forever on dialogue tags because i feel like we all likely have a general understanding on them, but
a dialogue tag is a group of words that precede, succeeds, or interrupt dialogue to indicate who is speaking. it’s important to correlate them with what is being said (“‘i love you,’ she snarled” doesn’t make as much sense as “‘i love you,’ she sighed,” does it? unless you’re taking enemies to lovers to the extreme ofc)
they should be used sparingly!! why? because they’re interruptions. they remind the reader that this story is narrated and therefore just that — a story. it becomes less immersive and real every time the reader is reminded of this.
when they’re used, try to be specific (so don’t just use “said” over and over again), but don’t rely on dialogue tags to express all the emotion. if they’re the only source of emotion, writing can feel chunky and very tell rather than show. no dialogue tag > expressive dialogue tag sometimes. also, “said” isn’t that bad! if the rest of your writing, from the narration to the dialogue itself, is expressing emotions properly, then the tag can be simple as “said.”
fox, what’s an action beat?
if most of what you’ve learned about writing is from school, chances are, you haven’t heard of this before. it’s okay, though, because i would be VERY surprised if you’ve never used them before either.
action beats serve many purposes, but their fundamental purpose is to break up dialogue. they’re short sentences that precede, succeeded, or interrupt dialogue just like dialogue tags. however, without being redundant and obvious (ex: “he said” “she said” “he cried” “she cried”), they actually can add information and depth while at the same time reminding/informing the reader who is speaking.
action beats tell of a character’s emotions, actions, thoughts, intentions while speaking. they also make sure the reader won’t get bored, because there is nothing worse than just pages after pages of straight dialogue.
so one function is to break voice. and interruption in the midst of a lot of speech, whether it is one-sided or multi-sided. it adds rhythm so that the writing isn’t just a bunch of dialogue and some dialogue tags.
“Did you find the book?” Frida asks hopefully.
“No,” he mutters. After a moment of thick silence, he goes on. “It wasn’t there. I found all his other books, even the ones he never finished writing, but...”
“Oh. Well, I’m sure it’ll be at the next library.”
“You said that last time.”
“And I’ll say it next time.”
“So you don’t think we’ll find it next time either?”
She looks away and closes her eyes, knowing that Kevin’s frustrated and trying to get the same reaction out of her. One of them had to hold hope. “We’ll find it. Now sit down. Janet brought lunch while you were gone.”
another function is to convey emotion and indicate mood without using extraneous adverbs and dialogue tags that ultimately don’t add anything or progress the story.
“Can you stop?! Can you stop it with all the hopeful monologues and stupid, stupid empowering little speeches?!” Kevin throws his fork down on the table with a loud profanity. “Just... let me be upset for a moment!”
action beats can also solve what we like to call white room syndrome or talking heads syndrome. it places the conversation into a setting so that we can imagine what’s around them rather than two floating heads in a blank room.
Frida looks out the window of her room. “I hope you’re here to apologize.” She watches his reflection in the dark glass. He’s standing by her door, looking as pitiful as her meager attempt to decorate the walls.
action beats often say what the character won’t. they indicate when the character is lying by showing rather than telling.
“I promise I won’t.” Kevin crosses his fingers behind his back, giving her a sincere smile. “I won’t go looking for the book again until we figure out what to do about Mark.”
and, lastly, the most obvious function, dialogue beats tell us who is talking without using tags!
“I expected you to keep your promises!” Frida wipes away her tears with a furious scowl. “I expected you not to betray me. All of us!”
and that’s all!! idk who frida, kevin, mark, or janet are, or what this whole book is about, but i hope y’all enjoyed and took something away from this ;)
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