{"id":24690,"date":"2024-09-11T23:51:15","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T23:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/audertistoriginals.com\/?p=24690"},"modified":"2024-09-12T00:34:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T00:34:50","slug":"common-grammar-pitfalls-of-new-writers-on-dialogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/audertistnovels.com\/?p=24690","title":{"rendered":"Our Writing Jar What Not to Do For Writing Dialogue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Writing Jar — Common Grammar Pitfalls of New Writers On Dialogue <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you new to writing? Have you just picked up that pen and started pouring your heart and soul to the page? If yes, then congratulations and welcome to the creative craft. Your journey will be a long and fruitful one with many triumphs and struggles ahead. Often times for new writers, it may feel like an uphill battle to self-improvement. But, here at the AUDERTIST team, we know exactly how all new writers feel. So, in effort to loosen your burdens and help you continue to strive for artistic success, here\u2019s a short little compilation of the common errors new writers often make a little tumble on, concerning dialogue.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be sure to watch out these creepy crawlers, or they\u2019ll come looking for you! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dialogue<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When writing dialogue, many writers have tendency to ignore all grammar rules and just regurgitate characters speaking onto the page. In essence, a lot of writers just start writing with their own forms of dialogue that make it hard for readers to follow and keep up. For example, I one read a dialogue on an online novel that was written a little like this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I don\u2019t know Diva. I don\u2019t have the answers.\u2019<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Well, somebody has to have them.\u2019 <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diva walked to the corner of the room, thinking, \u2018he\u2019s lying to me. I know he knows something.\u2019 <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll notice that is almost impossible to tell who is speaking, why they are speaking, and what the heck is going on in a scene like that. You can\u2019t tell the difference between the actual dialogue and what\u2019s a character thought. In other words, it\u2019s a mortal writing sin<\/em>! (cue dramatic music). Readers would shut your book so fast; they wouldn\u2019t even have time to blink!  
 
As a writer, you need readers—in fact, you should want<\/em> readers. So, it\u2019s important that you know how to write dialogue because dialogue will comprise a majority of you book.  
 
When writing dialogue in English or just writing dialogue in general, the dialogue will always be formatted in this general form: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Double Quotations \u201c\u201d + Dialogue (what is being said) + Punctuation (periods, commas, question marks, etc.) + Speaker Tag (aka he said, she said, they said, etc.)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, that’s a word salad, so here’s what that looks like in plain words: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Gettyra, help me! I think the demon is trapped in this book!” Hex shouted.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gettyra laughed, staring at Hex. She parted her lips with a smirk. “Demon inside of a book? No, way, you’re absolutely kidding me!” she said with a snicker as she shook her head in fake disbelief.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Gettyra! I said help me!” His hands were starting to burn with a tingling sensation as he held the cursed book. “Your sarcasm is not admirable or needed in life-or-death situations!”<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice the formatting of each of these dialogues are different. Dialogue tags can be found in three different places: before<\/strong>, after<\/strong>, or in the middle<\/strong> of dialogue.  
 
Depending on where the dialogue tags are, you use different punctuation and capitalization. A general rule of thumb for this is: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When dialogue tags are\u202fbefore<\/strong>\u202fthe dialogue it looks like this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gettyra asked, \u201cDo all of you humans have to be whiny and spineless?\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gettyra sighed. \u201cDo all of you humans have to be whiny and spineless.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deep breakdown for Before Dialogue Tags:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n