The rule of the dialogue tag

If I feel my dialogue needs a tag I very rarely use anything other than 'said', but on occasion I do slip something else in.

However, I'm a little sketchy on their usage.

I've just used 'persisted' - "Come on, just flip it," I persisted (because my character has already requested the coin be flipped on two occasions by this point)

But does that even make sense? Can someone 'persist' a line of dialogue? It's a bit like 'laughed'. Can you actually laugh a line?

If, for instance, my character was angry, I couldn't say "Get out of here!" he exploded, so by the same token how can one 'persist' a line of dialogue?

 

I'd be comfortable reading that Jud. I'd interpret mannerism and gesture by it. In life we're not poker-faced nor inanimate when we speak, so that verb seems fine to me.

I'm being subjective and it might or might not be in vogue, but said said said... has me think an author's under-thunk their story.

 

You're right that one can not literally persist a line of dialogue. This comes down to a stylistic choice. I tend to stay away from tags like those, but I'll use them occasionally. Although, now that I'm thinking about it, I usually go back and edit them out.

I've read plenty of books where this is used. It doesn't trip me up or take me out of a story when I see it. Like I said, it's a style choice. If you want to use those every so often, I say do it.

 

Thanks.

It's a weird one, innit?

 

OurJud are you writing in first person? I am terrible at the first, second, third person aspect and my first thought with the use of said is that it sounds like third person writing. Hey, if this question makes you angry then you can do some of your anger writing!

 

If you decided that you were uncomfortable with it as a tag, you could make it a beat:

I persisted. "C'mon, just flip it."

 

A beat works. I find that the tag works as well. You're engaging in an artistic exercise, not always a literal one. Just like you can use simile and metaphor, you can use tags in a way that aren't intended to be literal but are intended to evoke an image in the mind of the reader. So long as your meaning is clear, it's fine by me.

 

I agree that "persisted" works as a tag in a way that, for example, "smiled" (which I've seen used as a tag) doesn't.

 

The act of persisting is implied by the dialogue and using it as a tag is redundant.

The character has already made the request twice before. Then they say "Come on, just flip it". You don't need to say 'I persisted' because we get that from the context. You're stating the obvious.

Always look for a reason not to use tags. Not for a way to justify their use.

 

All good then. Thanks.

Not sure how much first-person stuff you've read, @tonguetied, but 'said' is the standard dialogue tag for all three POV; I said, he said, you said.

In actual fact my dialogues very rarely involve more than two people, so other than announcing the initial speaker they're are hardly tagged at all.

Thanks. This hadn't occurred.

 

I agree. "Smiled" and "laughed" aren't tags, but "persisted" seems okay. Not sure what the logic is there...

 

Exactly. That's why it was pecking with my head so much.

 

Does it have anything to do with whether the word used for a tag in noun, verb, adjective etc?

 

That used to be my view, but I've started to come around. The important thing is that the author conveys her meaning. Within that broad limitation, there are all kinds of approaches in terms of style, and ultimately we are using symbols (i.e. the written word) to do our best to approximate what is in our minds so it can be conveyed to the reader. I'm sure we have all heard someone laugh while they're speaking. I don't know about the rest of you, but I find if someone smiles while speaking it changes their inflection. I can speak over the phone to someone I know well and I can tell if they are smiling. I can hear it in their voice. So I think using those words as tags is a simple shorthand for conveying to the reader precisely those images, and that my previous aversion to it stemmed from a literal approach to the words (which, given how much in fiction writing is not literal seems to me to be often unnecessary and unjustified).

 

Yes, they're beats.

 

Just curious, would say that it's a style choice to either use those as beats or tags?

Example: "Fuck you, Karen. These are dialogue tags," he hissed."

vs

"Fuck you, Karen. These are character beats." He hissed.

Or is the first example flat wrong? I mean this with no sarcasm; I'm just curious what you think.

ETA: Sorry if anyone who reads this thread is actually named Karen. I just used the name because it's the first one that popped into my head.

 

My tuppence worth; I would read these in the same tone and probably assume the second was a typo. If the beat came before the dialogue, however...

 

To me using 'he hissed' as a beat says that he spoke and then hissed like a cat or something. As a tag it means he hissed the dialog. For me that's the distinction - tags describe dialog, beats are actions taken afterwards (unless says it's "he hissed the last word". Not actually sure if that'd count as a beat).

 

They're beats or tags depending on how they are used. People argue over whether it is proper to use them as tags.

 

To be clear: I'm just trying to add to the conversation.

Does it not boil down to a stylistic choice?

 

It does, but there are stylistic choices that everyone recognizes as such, and choices that some will instead declare to be an error. In the second case, a writer should think about whether he values the style freedom more than he fears the risk of the perception of error.

Random examples:

"Yes," he said.

is standard correct use of a tag.

"Yes." He sneezed.

is standard correct use of a beat.

"Yes," he sneezed.

is a stylistic choice that some might eye doubtfully. Did he speak through a sneeze, or did the author just not understand how to punctuate dialogue?

"Yes," he chewed.

is similarly uncertain. Did he speak with his mouth full or, again, is it an error?

"Yes," he tightened the bolts on the tire.

is something that I would regard as a flat-out error.