“Name Tagging and Name Dropping, Dialog, Part II”
By Renee Geffken, Coastal Dunes Branch
Attributions or dialogue tags are necessary to clarify who is speaking, and when used, they should be like a picture frame, not noticeable. Whereas, using ‘he exclaimed,’ etc. calls attention to the dialogue tag. It’s best to stick with the classic, ‘he said, I said, Bob said.’
Too many and too few dialogue tags can irritate your reader. By crafting your dialogue where there’s a natural progression of conversation, the reader can easily follow along. The number of characters in a scene also determines the number of dialogue tags you’ll incorporate. If just two characters, don’t talk down to your readers with the ping ponging of he said…, I said…, he said or Bob said…, Tom said…, Bob said… If there are three or four characters, then it becomes a bit trickier and requires more craftsmanship not to confuse the reader. Giving a character judicious, repetitious verbal mannerism (i.e., “Yeah, yeah.” Or “What-ev”) helps in that by the second chapter, the reader knows whose speaking. Another tip that worked for me was giving the main character many variations of her name. The name the parents used; what the siblings used; what the best friend or co-workers used; what the love interest used; and maybe the last name which the irate boss would use. This came into play during the final conflict in my novel when many of my characters were together in a frenzied scene.
Regarding name dropping, which I’m using when a character calls the other character by their name, this is also overused. In real life, or just my life, I may call my husband by his name or ‘Honey’ just a few times a day, and in most cases I usually do this when he’s in another part of the house. The context of your story should make it clear who is speaking.
Use the Find and Replace function. If you type your main characters names, you’ll see it’s probably listed 600 times in a 400-page manuscript. Now that’s way too much! Be creative and knock it down to half as much. (Of note, this is the rule of thumb I use but I write in 1st person POV; it may be different for those who write in 3rd person POV). Try removing the name during dialogue to determine if there’s any confusion on who is speaking to whom. It’s perfectly acceptable to have one character say the other’s name when the dialogue gets a bit confusing, as in many bits of question and answer short bursts of dialogue, or if there’s a long bit of description or interior monologue and then dialogue starts up again. But then again, maybe a dialogue tag with a bit of action would work better there.
Thanks to Renee Geffken
and the Coastal Dunes website
for providing this two-part series.
Part I appeared in last month’s edition.