Dialogue Tags

Tags and Tag Lines

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Tags * Tag Lines * Of Interest Quote of the Day “[S]creenwriting is work, it’s a chore, you’re writing for other people and rewriting constantly, while I don’t consider novel writing work at all.” Elmore Leonard Tags You know that the Journal archive is free, and you also know it’s in PDF format (so it can be printed out) and that it’s searchable. You can download the archive, year by year, at https://hestanbrough.com/the-daily-journal-archives/. But sometimes we’re at a loss for the right search term. That’s where tags can come in handy. … Read more

The Journal: Desperately Avoiding the Adverb

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Desperately Avoiding the Adverb * On Tidbits * Marketing Tidbit * Of Interest * The Numbers ​​​ Quote of the Day “On a different subject, “… head shaking with rue” sounded odd. Is this just me or is the author desperately avoiding the adverb?” Mike Hall, in a comment on a post on The Passive Voice Topic: Desperately Avoiding the Adverb For many years, I’ve kept a running list of verbs writers use in dialogue tags to replace “said” and thereby, they reason, to “spiff up” the tag and make … Read more

The Journal: Questions 2: Dialogue Tags and Interruptions

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Another pretty good day * Topic: Questions 2: Dialogue Tags and Interruptions * Followup * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day I’ve talked here before about having a specific skill in mind when you sit down to write, for example pacing or dialogue or whatever. That’s how you practice and improve. Today’s topic will give you two more techniques to practice. HS “Deliberate practice is what turns amateurs into professionals. … Deliberate practice means practicing with a clear awareness of the specific components of a skill we’re aiming … Read more