First things first: What’s a dialogue tag? The term dialogue tag refers to the word attached to a piece of dialogue to indicate who is speaking. The most common dialogue tag is said. Other popular options include asked and replied.
Ideally, dialogue tags should be practically invisible to the reader. After all, most readers are far more interested in what is actually being said than in how the speaker is saying it. However, authors can sometimes feel like they have to be creative with dialogue tags and pepper the book with more unusual options, such as effused, interjected, asserted, and yes, even ejaculated (true story, I’m afraid).
Using an unusual dialogue tag is not necessarily wrong (although I’d advise you to avoid ejaculated at all costs), provided it is done sparingly. In most cases, a simple tag such as said or asked will do. When a book is packed with unusual tags, they can become a serious distraction for the reader.
A second issue often arises with dialogue tags. Whether straightforward or unusual, a dialogue tag should reflect a way that people actually say words (e.g., said, whispered, shouted), rather than action words like smiled, paused, or shrugged. (People don’t smile, pause, or shrug words.) Instead, those nonspeaking words should be styled as action beats, meaning they’ll be separated from the dialogue with a period instead of a comma. For example:
Incorrect: “I don’t know what happened,” shrugged Patricia.
Correct: “I don’t know what happened.” Patricia shrugged.
What about words like chuckle or laugh? Those could plausibly be used as dialogue tags if the speaker is only saying a word or two. Most of us could chuckle out a simple “Yes” or “No,” for example, but would be hard-pressed to chuckle out a complex sentence.
Incorporating action beats is a great strategy for adding variety to your dialogue in a way that enhances rather than detracts from the story.
If you’re looking for an editor who can make sure your dialogue tags are shipshape (along with everything else a copyedit entails), I’d be happy to help. My schedule is typically booked a couple of months out, so if your book will be ready for a copyedit soon, let’s chat!
