How to write dialogue in a narrative essay

How to Format Dialogue: Examples and Writing Tips

An indirect quote, indirect quotation, or paraphrase conveys the meaning of the idea presented in the original source. However, you should present this idea using your own words. Indirect quotations do not require the use of quotation marks. However, you should mention the author and the original source. Formatting styles have different requirements to dialogue punctuation. So, check the guidelines to format dialogue and present your indirect quotes correctly.

Writing dialogue that is clear and informative requires the knowledge of a set of formatting rules. You should understand how to punctuate dialogue correctly to convey the meaning properly. Check the rules to learn how to write dialogue correctly to make your piece of writing flawless.

Quotation Marks and Capitalization

Punctuation 

• Use a comma after the dialogue tags that precedes direct speech.
• If the quoted speech precedes the dialogue tag, comma goes inside the quotation marks.
  
• Use colon to introduce direct speech that expresses a finished idea or sentence.
• If there is a complete phrase with its original punctuation, add it inside the quotation marks. Whether it’s a period, quotation mark, question mark, or exclamation mark, it all goes inside a quote.
  
• Do not add a comma after the direct quote that precedes a dialogue tag if the direct speech ends with its specific punctuation (i.e. full stop, exclamation or question marks, etc.).
• In case the quoted speech is too long, divide it into multiple paragraphs. Use quotation marks appropriately. Opening quotation marks should be placed at the beginning of the speech. Closing quotation marks go at the very end of the direct speech. Avoid adding them after every paragraph.
• If you put a dialogue tag between two character’s phrases in one sentence, separate it with commas.
  
• Do not add any punctuation marks after the closing quotation marks if the direct speech ends with ellipsis. Ellipses (three dots) are used when you omit some information from the quote.
• Em dashes that indicate abrupt ending of a dialogue go inside the quotation marks. Do not mix up em dashes and hyphens.
• Avoid using either double or single quotes when you are introducing an indirect quote. It will be a mistake.

Reporting Verbs and Dialogue Tags

Dialogue tags or speech tags are short phrases that refer to the direct quote. They provide additional information on what the character is speaking about, help explain the emotion, and understand the context better. They can be placed either before, in the middle, or after the direct quotation. These short phrases are also part of indirect speech.

When using indirect quotes, students tend to overuse word say and tell to present every. However, there exist multiple words that could help describe the dialogue better. Check the list of useful verbs to use in your dialogue tangs and indirect quotes.

How to Quote a Dialogue in an Essay Correctly

Students are always required to cite the sources they have used in paper. These can either be long or short direct quotes, dialogues, or paraphrase. Dialogue punctuation depends on the formatting style. The most common are MLA and APA. Although, there are other styles such as Chicago and ASA format. Let's have a look at the rules to punctuate dialogue and direct quotes correctly.

MLA

When quoting a dialogue in MLA format, you should pay attention to the following requirements.

APA

Mind the following dialogue rules when formatting quotations in APA format.

• If a character’s quote is short, put both the quote and the dialogue tags in the same line.
• When adding a quote that is longer than 40 words, first, introduce the source and the author. Put a colon and add a quote as a new paragraph. The whole quote should be indented, and no quotation marks are needed. Mention the page quote is taken from in brackets just at the end of the quotation.
• If a character’s words span more than one paragraph, put quotation marks at the beginning of paragraphs as well as at the end of the quote.
• Indirect quote in APA does not require the use of quotation marks. The dialogue tags initiate the character’s part.

Effective Tips on Dialog Writing

1. Use quotation marks at the beginning and end of each quotation.
2. Every quote starts from a new line of dialogue.
3. Separate direct speech from dialogue tags using corresponding punctuation marks.
4. Use different placing of dialogue tags (before, in the middle, after a quote) to avoid repetitive structures.
5. Original direct speech punctuation goes within quotation marks.
6. Use different verbs in a dialogue tag.
7. Formatting dialogue in APA and MLA is different.
8. Differentiate between direct and indirect quotes.
9. Don’t add quotation marks if you paraphrase.
10. Use single quotation marks to add one direct quote within another.

We have a lot of useful blogs for our users. Read how to write an essay quickly and follow all these tips. Use our examples for writing different kinds of tasks.

Final Thoughts

Writing dialogue is a time consuming process. It has numerous tricky rules. Now that you know all the peculiarities of dialogue writing, such as dialogue tags, em dashes, quotation marks, it will not be a challenge for you to write dialogue. However, if you are not sure you can do it the right way, you may try writing assistance. Professional writers will help you save time and receive high grades.

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