Musings #33: Fun with Dialogue Punctuation (#writingtips)

Laissez Faire

I love dialogue.

Sometimes I will write a  scene just so I can use a quippy exchange later.

I adore how you can produce a different pace and evoke feeling with punctuation and well-placed interruptions.      Sometimes it can get me into trouble if I have edited heavily to get the right “sound” and I screw up the punctuation.

If you struggle with dialogue, don’t hesitate to write your simple dialogue “bones” then look up the punctuation rules and fix those errors and add flavor later.  The more you write dialogue, the better you get at basic punctuation and the more you can play with the tags, the dash, the ellipsis, and interrupting action.   Beware the he said-she said tar pits.   They can ruin the pacing of your dialogue like too much pepper.

Do you say the characters names too much?  Use “said” too often?  Do a search and…

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