“He said?” she asked.

Dialog tags. Ugh. Besides the was/were issue, it’s one of the most common problems plaguing writers.

Rule One: Not all dialog needs a tag. If you can make it obvious who’s speaking, especially if it’s just two speakers in the conversation, you do not need to tag every sentence. Seriously, don’t do it. It’s a sign of a novice writer to tag every single sentence. For example, if a character asks a question and you use a ? in the sentence, you don’t need to tack, “she asked,” to the end of the dialog.

“Is that your axe buried in my husband’s forehead?” she asked.

Come on, really. Now, if we don’t know from the prior narrative who the speaker is, it’s perfectly acceptable to orient your reader by writing:

“Is that your axe buried in my husband’s forehead?” Marsha asked.

Unless, of course, we already know Marsha’s husband is the presumably dead guy with the nifty new head gear. Then it’s implied and, again, probably doesn’t need a clarifying dialog tag.

Marsha ran into the room and stopped before Bill’s body. “Is that your axe buried in my husband’s forehead?”

That doesn’t need a dialog tag, does it?

Rule Two: If it’s not a form of speaking, it’s not a tag.

Incorrect: “That’s funny,” she laughed. NOT a proper dialog tag.
Correct: She laughed. “That’s funny.” OR “That’s funny.” She laughed.

People also do not chuckle, snort, guffaw, giggle, or smile their dialog.

Rule Three: Many times, it’s best to stick to “said” and “asked” as your tags. The rest can be accomplished through clever use of context, dialog, and accompanying action. It gets VERY boring to read an exchange like the following:

“You’re dull,” she quipped.
“Why’s that?” he yawned.
“Because,” she said, “you bore me.”
“I don’t understand,” he quizzically said.
“You’re stupid, too,” she explained.

I mean, really, folks. How about the following instead:

“You’re dull.” She crossed her arms and glared at him.
“Why’s that?” He covered his sleepy yawn with his hand.
“Because you bore me.”
He arched an eyebrow at her. “I don’t understand.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re stupid, too.”

Okay, yes, I know it’s an EXAMPLE, but the second example reads more naturally than the first, and while yes, I substituted “tags” with “action,” it still made it easy to follow the conversation and gave us a better mental picture of the two people involved.

Rule Four: You do not need to use the character’s names all the time in dialog. It’s not natural in speaking, think about it. It’s acceptable to use a name if referring to someone who’s not there, or if you need to orient the reader, but you don’t need them all the time. Listen to real-life conversations. When two people are talking, they are rarely using the other person’s name for every other line of dialog.

Incorrect:
“Bill, get that for me.”
“Yes, Marsha.”

I mean, honestly, if we already know Bill and Marsha are the only two people in the room, we don’t need them to use their names all the time unless Marsha really needs to use Bill’s name to get his attention for some reason.

Rule Five: You do not need to describe every dialog tag. We don’t need to know on every sentence HOW it was spoken, unless it’s irony that might otherwise escape the reader if not qualified.

Mark Twain said: "I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."

That applies to adverbs as well as adjectives. So we don’t need to know if he/she “said” something angrily, haughtily, purposefully, loudly, softly, happily, etc. If your context and the characters’ actions don’t convey to us the speaker’s tone and actions, then you might want to go back and rewrite.

Rule Six: Learn how to properly punctuate dialog.

Incorrect: “I want to go to the bookstore.” He said.
Incorrect: “I want to go to the bookstore,” He said.
Incorrect: “I want to go to the bookstore.” he said.
CORRECT: “I want to go to the bookstore,” he said.

Yes, there are differences based on US/UK English, but in the US, the above correct example is the general standard.

If you split a line of dialog with a tag, be careful. If the second portion can stand alone, properly tag it.

Correct: “She’ll be here by nine,” he said. “I’m sure she won’t be happy.”

It could also be written, “She’ll be here by nine,” he said, “and I’m sure she won’t be happy.”

There are a ton of variations, you get the idea.

You can easily trim your word count simply by removing unnecessary dialog tags and tightening your writing by composing your dialog in a more natural way. Listen to conversations in your everyday life. Don’t try to force your characters to talk in unnatural ways. Read your dialog out loud, does it sound natural?

So go forth and conquer those conversations!

Lesli Richardson is the author of "Out of the Darkness" and the "Good Will Ghost Hunting" series coming in 2009 from Lyrical Press, Inc. You can find more of her writings at http://www.leslirichardson.com and http://www.tymberdalton.com