🚫 No Dialogue Tags!

For the next week, I challenge you to avoid dialogue tags.

Writers often over-rely on dialogue tags to make up for weak dialogue. This is especially true for emotions. It’s easier to write “she sobbed” than it is to make the rhythm of the words sound like sobbing. It’s easier to write “he said angrily” than it is to infuse the speech with anger.

As a writer, you shouldn’t have to explain what your dialogue means. Your dialogue should be able to carry itself.

Here are a few ways to avoid dialogue tags:

1. Omit the tag altogether. If the emotion you want can be carried by the words themselves, try omitting the tag.

2. Change the tag to a physical action. If the emotion is better portrayed with a physical action, do that instead. For example, “he buried his face in his hands”.

3. Use “said” once in a while. If you must label the speaker, try only using “said” as your dialogue tag. Emotion adverbs (e.g. “said sadly”, “said proudly”, etc) are often used as crutches to prop up bad dialogue.

I’m not saying you should always avoid dialogue tags. In fact, classic literature is often filled with thousands of tags (see, for example, The Great Gatsby). This is just an exercise to help you write stronger dialogue.

Doing this exercise is like taking away the training wheels on a bicycle. It forces you to adapt and learn.

Examples

Here’s an example of omitting the tag altogether. Notice when I remove the tag, the original dialogue falls flat because the cadence doesn’t match the emotion. With the original, I have to tell you John is angry. The rewritten version sounds angry:

• With tag: “No, you have to leave,” John bellowed angrily. “Get out of here and never come back.”

• Tag removed: “No, you have to leave. Get out of here and never come back.”

• Rewritten: “Get out. Now. And don’t you dare come back.”

Now, here’s an example of using physical actions instead of dialogue tags. Notice how the action changes the tone of the dialogue. In the passage with the dialogue tag, you don’t know what kind of emotion she has. Is she sad? Panicking? Blaming herself? Suicidal? By adding the action, I’m showing you the exact emotion:

• With tag: “I can’t believe I lost it all,” she sobbed. “Why did I go all in on that bet?”

• With physical action: “I can’t believe I lost it all.” She slumped in her chair, her nails digging into her scalp. “Why did I go all in on that bet?”

An Entire Novel With Only Dialogue?

Cormac McCarthy’s novel Stella Maris is the best example of dialogue carrying itself. The novel is entirely dialogue. No tags. No action.

McCarthy managed to convey every single emotion with speech. Check it out: