Dialogue tags in first person how to#

Good dialogue serves other story functions as well: It helps to break up action and exposition, giving your story time to breathe it’s the primary way to add emotion to a scene and dialogue helps to establish character relationships. Has a character suffered some kind of defining trauma? Or do they have a special code of honor that dictates their behavior? Revealing these things through a few lines of dialogue rather than exposition helps your story live up to the old chestnut: show, don’t tell! Realistic dialogue is also how readers relate to and understand character dynamics-dialogue give characters depth. Just think: without dialogue-the kind between two characters who speak to each other, as well as the “dialogue” of body language-your characters would just be random people undertaking a series of different actions. On the most basic level, dialogue is what animates your characters.

Why is effective dialogue important?Įffective dialogue is important because it brings your characters to life, helps readers relate to the character, and helps to move the story along.

Dialogue tags in first person how to#

To help you better understand how to write dialogue in your story, let’s take a look at why it’s important and how you can make your story’s dialogue really shine. Bad dialogue, though, can turn even the coolest literary concept into a poorly executed mess. Good dialogue can help elevate your story while making your characters seem realistic and relatable.