He Said, She Said: How To Credit Dialogue In Writing

Dialogue is a major part of any work of fiction, and one important issue is how to show who's saying what. In most works with spoken dialogue, speakers can be told apart by the sounds of their voices, while visual works like comic books and older vidoe games have speech bubbles and text boxes. Literature, however, has a few different options, and "(Character) said," is the safest and most practical one. I will examine a few different methods and show why simply using "said" is the best of all of them.

Method 1: "(Character) said"

As mentioned above, this method simply credits dialogue with two words- the name of the character speaking, and "said."

Example:

"Could you please show me what you have in mind?" Alice said.

"Sure thing, Alice," Bob said with a nod. "Just take a look at this exchange.

Pros: This method of crediting dialogue does its job; showing who is saying what. It does the job without drawing attention away from the dialogue itself, which is what's most important.

Cons: This can come off as boring and repetitive. Some people believe that by using "said," one forgoes the opportunity to use more descriptive words, such as saying "yelled" to describe an angry character's speech, or "exulted" to describe what a triumphant character says.

Method 2: "(Character) (Any verb besides said)"

This method is a bit like the first, except it eschews "said" in favor of more colorful and descriptive verbs.

Example:

"Could you please show me what you have in mind?" Alice asked.

"Sure thing, Alice," Bob replied while nodding. "Just take a look at this exchange."

Pros: This method can potentially be used to use stronger words for lines with stronger emotions. That said, it's generally best to do this sparingly, and only in cases that warrant such strong words; it isn't a good idea to say that a character shouted if the dialogue ends with a period.

Cons: Readers may find themselves getting distracted, especially if the author chooses an unfortunate verb. "Ejaculated" is probably the most extreme example, but others can make it seem as though the author is trying too hard to be fancy, especially if they never use "said" even for lines delivered in a neutral tone of voice. Furthermore, some equivalents for "said" barely seem necessary, like the "asked" or "replied" in the example above.

Method 3: No Dialogue Tags

Unlike the first two methods, this method generally does not credit dialogue. I have often seen it used in localizations of light novels.

Example:

"Could you please show me what you have in mind?"

Bob nodded.

"Sure thing, Alice. Just take a look at this exchange."

Pros: This method saves writers the trouble of having to write out the name of every speaker. It also makes dialogue flow somewhat better without having to credit everyone who talks, and can be useful for dialogue-heavy works.

Cons: This method makes it harder for readers to tell who's talking, especially in conversations involving more than two speakers, and you can only guess based on context. This results in a significant amount of extra work for the reader, thereby making the story harder to understand or enjoy.

Method 4: Scripted Dialogue

This method works like the script of a movie, with the character's name coming first, followed by the dialogue.

Example:

Alice: Could you please show me what you have in mind?"

Bob (nodding): Sure thing, Alice. Just take a look at this exchange."

Pros: This is by far the simplest and easiest to use. Just write the character's name, a brief tag describing their tone and/or actions, and you have your dialogue. In this method, the description of the setting of the scene or other events taking place may be written as stage direction or with a typical third-person narrator.

Cons: This comes off as rather amateurish and even lazy, not to mention feeling as out of place in prose. While this is acceptable for a movie or television script, it is worth noting that scripts generally act as instructions for the cast and crew and maybe reference material for enthusiasts; the final product is what viewers pay money to see. Since writing a book and writing a movie script are two very different tasks, they require different approaches.

Essentially, writing "(Character) said," may not be all that exciting from a stylistic perspective, but it's still the most practical and efficient way to credit dialogue without disrupting the flow of the story. Like with any other creative endeavor, it's important to understand what situations warrant artistic flair, and what situations require a safe and simple approach. Showing who's saying what falls into the latter category, so you should stick with a simple "(character) said," then spend the energy you save writing good dialogue for those characters.