In order to format dialogue, you will need to know how to use and identify 'Dialogue Tags.' Please watch the VIDEO TUTORIAL in this book titled WHAT ARE DIALOGUE TAGS?

"Hi," John said.

Pam replied, "Hi. What are you up to?"

"Oh, nothing," he answered. "Just here writing."

"Is that so?" she asked. "Is writing difficult?"

He laughed. "Difficult?"

"Difficult," she repeated with a chuckle.

He said, "Maybe for some, but I'm sure you can manage."

"But," Pam began, "but it looks so hard."

"Oh," John confessed, "I suppose it can be."

"Oh, I must try it!" she declared. "How do I start?"

John explained, "It's not very hard. You just sit down and start putting your thoughts into a story."

"Hmm. You're not very helpful, are you?" she admonished.

"Well, anybody with two thoughts to rub together could do it just fine!" he fired back. (He fired back, "Well, anybody with two thoughts to rub together could do it just fine!")

Pam squinted at him as she climbed onto her soapbox and professed, "Should you have a character with DEEP thoughts and a lengthy Sherlock Holmes type 'who done it' long paragraph-length dialogue, you start like this, with the first quotation mark. But you end it without a quotation mark.

"Open another quotation mark here and continue the lengthy rundown. Once he/she has finished mansplaining the plot away, then you can close the dialogue off here with a quotation mark like so."

👆  This was ALL Pam's dialogue.

say (said) | scream | shout | cry | declare | proclaim | admit | confess | promise | curse | chide | scold | admonish | tease | joke | warn | add | reply | answer | inquire | ask | whisper | mumble | mutter | groan | moan | chime | bark | yell | snap | quip | marvel | wonder | think (thought)

Using these will help reduce your TELLING and instead SHOW how the character speaks.

*please comment if you'd like to add any others

laugh | chuckle | sigh | smirk | smile

(you've been warned)

integrate them by using SAID

"Come here," he said with a laugh.

"Come here," he said with a smile.

"Come here," he said with a smirk.

OR

"Come here," he said, laughing.

"Come here," he said, smiling.

"Come here," he said, smirking.

OR

He laughed. "Come here."

He smiled. "Come here."

He smirked. "Come here."