The Rules of Dialogue | Lets talk about it.

Getting dialogue down! These may seem like simple rules, but they are also easily missed, and knowing them will help create better and more engaging stories that are easier to read, more so when one gets to long posts.

Begin and end with quotation marks

• Your dialogue should start and end with quotation marks. "Speech "
• The character quoting someone else in the middle of dialogue 'Quote'

"As Desuri always says 'I could heal you, but I like to see you in pain' now I can see the the truth in that, you look so cute writhing in agony" Saliska chuckled down from her perch.

Tell us who is speaking!

You can place the dialogue tag before, after, or even in the middle of the quoted dialogue.

( If you place the tag in the middle of a complete sentence then you do not capitalize the first word of the continuation quote)  

Saliska said, “Desuri left catching the rabbit for dinner to me. But I couldnt find one.”

“Desuri left catching the rabbit for dinner to me. But I couldnt find one,” Saliska said.

“Desuri left catching the rabbit for dinner to me,” Saliska said, “But I couldnt find one.”

“Desuri left catching the rabbit for dinner to me. But I couldnt find one,” Saliska said. “She however brought home some mushrooms and fish.”

My goodness, the word "Said got annoying" If only there better words that could have been used

Use common punctuation marks with quotations

The most common punctuation marks you’ll use with dialogue are commas and periods, Here is how you would use each:

• Periods: If the speech comes at the end of the sentence period.
• Commas: If the speech comes at the start or middle it's a comma.
• Questions or excitement: always include !? within regardless of where in the sentence.

How to indicate when dialogue is interrupted

Use a dash when the speaker stops speaking dash indicates that the dialogue stops abruptly. Place it in the qoutes!

Examples:

Desuri slammed open the door her eyes falling on the empty spit by the fire. “Desuri let me exp — “ Saliska started. “You lost the rabbit didn't you! What kind of weap — ” Desuri snapped. A blade skimmed across Desuri's cheek causing her to hesitate.

"The kind that eats metal and kills people! Don't start with me," Saliska snarled Her green eyes flaring with anger at the near insult that danced from her friend's lips.

"Oh... right, I forget," Desuri chuckled running her finger along her cheek healing the scratch.