How to Write Dialogue: Formatting

If you haven’t noticed yet, I’m a talker.

You don’t say? *Rolls eyes*

Oh, I do! I love talking, except when I don’t. It’s complicated, don’t ask… Anyway, because I typically have lots of curious conversation, I impose that same trait on my characters. Many of them like to think and talk all the time. The conversations are not idle, but they can be witty or long-winded at times–but always relevant!

As I started to work on my character development, I had to keep in mind that dialogue is a key feature to understanding a character. How they speak can reveal much of their demographics–let alone the content of their conversation. If you didn’t know that, you know it now.

Characterization is an essential literary element for better storytelling; make sure you know the four components of it.

I find that many writers aren’t exactly sure of the physical format for dialogue. In addition, what to include around dialogue other than tags (he said, she whispered) can be tricky, too. I’ve read questions and answers about it in my writing communities and thought that maybe I can address it with what I do. It seems well-received by my beta-readers, so I assume it’s effective.

Assumptions aren’t good…

Neither is your constant interruptions! *glares* Anyway, I’m going to break this topic into two: formatting and integration. Let’s start with formatting.

External Dialogue (monologue or soliloquy)

The basic rule that I teach in my classroom is if a new speaker (not necessarily new to the conversation, though) is talking, you start a new “paragraph”–no matter how small it is! Example:

“I said don’t touch it,” she warned him

“What will you do if I do?” His hand hovered over the button in immature temptation.

“I’ll murder you.”

“No, you won’t!” She turned to glare at him.

“Don’t tempt me to find out.”

You may have some characters who speak for a whole paragraph–and that’s okay. However, if the paragraphs are getting too long, you want to break them into their own paragraphs based on the shift of topic or tone. Example:

    “Look, that button is dangerous. If you press it, it will cause mass pandemonium, breaking down the nuclear power plants and putting all of the city in danger. I’ve been protecting it for many years, and as simple as it seems, it’s absolutely nerve-wracking. I trusted you to come into this room and you’re already making me regret it.*
   “I trust you. Do you understand that? Considering my work, my job–my livelihood–that’s a huge burden on your shoulders that you need to decide is something you can handle–right now.”

Notice that:

• *When the first paragraph of dialogue ends, there is no quote mark. That’s because it’s showing that the dialogue is still continuing on.
• But, when the second paragraph begins, there is a quote mark. This indicates that it is still dialogue being spoken by, presumably, the same person as the paragraph before.
• I’m not 100% sure that this is why the formatting is like that for paragraph dialogue, but that’s how I’ve always understood it.

A few guidelines:

• Spoken dialogue is closed in by quote marks (the one with double apostrophes).
• Punctuation–that is not a period–is included in the quotation marks.
  • Example: “No you won’t!”
• If the dialogue ends with a period and the sentence (with tags or actions) is continuing, replace what would have been a period with a comma.
  • Example: “Look, that button is dangerous,” he stressed in a strained voice.
• Any word (except a formal noun) that continues the sentence after the dialogue should be lowercase.
  • Example: “Look, that button is dangerous,” he stressed in a strained voice.
• Every time you start a new speaker “paragraph”, indent it like a normal paragraph.

Okay, I think I covered this all.

Internal Dialogue (thoughts)

For internal dialogue, you follow pretty much all the same rules as that for external dialogue. However, to indicate a difference between internal and external, you can do one of two things: italicize it or put it in single quotes (apostrophes). Example:

‘He’s really being so dramatic about this,’ he thought to himself. OR,

He’s really being so dramatic about this, he thought to himself.

They mean the same thing, they just look a little different. Whichever you choose is your stylistic preference, but you have to be consistent throughout the whole story with it.

I think I’ve caught it all.

There are so many little rules that you have to keep track of. It’s annoying, I know, but it’s to prevent ambiguity between spoken word, regular text, et cetera. When you edit, make sure to check for these things, not all editors will catch it. It becomes a grammatical mistake that will stand out to most readers. Be mindful.

Aside from that, what other questions do you have about dialogue? Did I miss anything? Let me know below and on social media. You can also get help with other writing tips, tricks, and topics through my bi-weekly newsletter–along with FREE reading and writing resources. Don’t forget to sign up!