MS.

IRAM FARID
Quaid-e-Azam Law College Lahore
LLB-PART-I
ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS

Dialogue:

Dialogue is a conversation between two or more persons.

GENERAL RULES FOR WRITING DIALOGUE:

1. Dialogue Must Be In Conflict

2. Dialogue Must Have a Purpose

What kind of purpose? At least one of the following...

1. The dialogue moves the plot forward.

2. It deepens the reader's understanding of what makes the character tick.

3. It provides important information.

3. Dialogue Should Flow

i) Watch how you use dialogue tags

You know what dialogue tags are he said, she said and the like.

ii) Vary the length of the lines

iii) Don't have characters talk in a vacuum

4. Dialogue Should Be Concise

5. Don't Have the Characters All Sound the Same

6. Give Characters an Agenda

7. Avoid Obvious Dialogue

8. Use Subtext In Your Dialogue

9. Get the Punctuation Right

GRAMMATICAL RULES FOR WRITING DIALOGUE:

(1) PUNCTUATION MARKS
Commas

A comma separates dialogue from its dialogue tag.

Commas ALWAYS go inside the Quotation marks.

EXAMPLE: "You should be proud of your name," Lin said.

To punctuate dialogue divided by a dialogue tag, place a second

comma after the tag, and after any words that come between the
tag and the continuation of the sentence.

EXAMPLE: "If you try," he said, his smile persuasive, "you'll find it's
easier than it looks."

NO COMMA

When a character takes action after speaking, the action usually

begins a new sentence and should not be punctuated with a
comma, as if it is a dialogue tag.

EXAMPLE:"Let's proceed, shall we?" Roberta coughed and shuffled

her papers.

Question Marks and Exclamation Marks

Both question marks and exclamation marks take the place of

commas and periods; they are not used in addition to them.

Incorrect: "Watch out!," She yelled. "Do you want to get hurt?"

Correct: "Watch out!" she yelled. "Do you want to get hurt?"
Dashes and Ellipses

To punctuate dialogue correctly, dashes indicate where a sentence

breaks off, such as when one character interrupts another. Ellipses
indicate that the dialogue trails off, such as when one character is
unsure, or does not want to finish the sentence.

Example: "I told him we would break his"

"Quiet," he said. "You don't know who's listening, or even worse. . ."

Spacing

When one character stops speaking and the focus moves to another
character's speech or actions, begin a new paragraph.

Example: "Watch out!" she yelled. "Do you want to get hurt?"

He shrugged and made a face. "Not really."

Capitalization

To correctly punctuate dialogue, the first word of dialogue is always

capitalized.

EXAMPLE: He said, "We can be there by morning."

Never capitalize the dialogue tag. A lowercase letter follows the

punctuated dialogue.

Incorrect: "Yes, it's mine," Said the woman.

Correct: "Yes, it's mine," said the woman.

When Dialogue is Divided

When dialogue is divided by a speaker attribution, begin the second

half of the sentence with a lowercase letter, not an uppercase one.

Incorrect: "We can be there by morning," he said, "If we get started

right away."

Correct: "We can be there by morning," he said, "if we get started

right away."

More Than One Paragraph of Dialogue

When a character has more than one paragraph of dialogue, use

closing quotation marks at the end of the final paragraph in the
 sequence only. Omit quotation marks at the end of any paragraph
directly followed by more dialogue from the same character.

Incorrect: He said, "We can be there by morning, if the weather

holds. It will be all six of us, the three kids and Tiny, the
St. Bernard."

"If Charles says anything about the dog, tell him to stuff it."

Correct: He said, "We can be there by morning, if the weather holds.

It will be all six of us, the three kids and Tiny, the St. Bernard.

"If Charles says anything about the dog, tell him to stuff it."

SINGLE QUOTATION MARKS

Standard use of quotation marks uses double quotation marks for

regular dialogue and single quotation marks for anything quoted by
a character.

EXAMPLE: "When I arrived, he already had her terrified. 'Never

again,' I heard him say. 'You've had your last chance.'"

Avoid placing quotation marks around thoughts.

Example: She said she'd be gone as soon as possible. So she was no
tourist, but what, then? A real estate agent? That would fit with her
business attire.

EXAMPLE:
Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five
thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!

How so? How can it affect them?

My dear Mr. Bennet, replied his wife, how can you be so tiresome! You must
know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them

My dear, you flatter me. I certainly have had my share of beauty, but I do not
pretend to be anything extraordinary nowshe ought to give over thinking of
her own beauty.