What are your tips and tricks for avoiding dialog tags?

I like this. Combine their action and words so it feels alive, it feels like they're doing something other than standing rooted on the ground moving just their mouths.

"That's right," Amos nodded. "We're people, not lifeless posts." He stood up, arched his back and yawned. "God, I need exercise..."
Robin closed his book, glanced outside. "Well, go for a walk, then. It's not rainy."
"I'll do that." He tapped his way to the door. "By the way, Robin, did you get the invite yet?"
"No, why?"
"Because you're supposed to go to this ball or whatever."
Robin slammed a fist on the armrest. "Damn it!" he growled, dragging his fingers through his hair. "Ugh, thanks, Amos. Thanks for reminding me."

How's that, @ChickenFreak ?

 

You are now officially my hero.

 

As others have said, I would interject action, something like this:-

Clarence pirouetted across the room. "Watch me dance, watch me dance."

Sebastian clapped excitedly. "I'm watching, I'm watching."

 

Yes. You and the others here are creating a picture, as well as conveying what is being said. That's the point of action beats. Using 'saids' as dialogue tags does keep the speakers clear, but that's all it does. Readers need more.

 

@jannert - Well now I can't stop!

"Really, Amos? Really?" Emily folded her arms, watched incredously as her blind friend tore off his shirt and waded into the creek. "How do you . . .?"
He splashed water onto himself, dunked below the surface and shot back up with an enthusiastic whoop of glee. She rolled her eyes. "Oh! Must you be such a child?"
"Come on in!" Amos goaded, splashing the water her direction. "Come on!"
She licked her lips. "Amos, we're trying to demonstrate how to properly use dialogue tags and action beats," she said, "not play around in the water."
He tilted his head and arched his eyebrows. "What?"
She repeated herself, slower this time. "Understood?"
Amos paused, his hands idly skimmed over the surface. "Not really." He cupped his hands and pushed them toward her, sending a wave splashing at the hem of her skirt.
"Amos!!"

 

Just beware that beats slow the pace of dialogue - a useful tool when you want to slow things down, but not so useful in high-tension scenes.

 

First draft is for yourself, and it may be valuable for you to keep track of precisely who is speaking. First revision can delete the unnecessary ones.

 

Sounds like this could end up skinny-dipping!

 

Emily returned to where her friend was still in the creek. Something nearby, half-submerged made her balk. A pair of trousers . . . Another whoop of joy from Amos. She looked up in time to see him clinging onto a low-hanging branch, feeling for a good footing. Then, much to her shock and dismay, he pulled himself up out of the water, exposing his bare pink buttocks. She clasped her eyes, wishing she could rip the image from her mind.

Hey, you asked. But I agree with @Tenderiser . If the action is fast, you probably don't need to bog it down with 'he said'/'she said'. The action will speak for itself.

 

BTW, that is really well-written, probably off the cuff. Bravo Zulu!

 

Who's Zulu?

 

Yes, that's very important to remember. Dialogue/beat interaction has a massive effect on pacing. However, I see it more often going the other way these days. Streams of everyday dialogue that gallop along to the point where the thread gets lost. I see this in workshop posts a lot. Nothing wrong with the dialogue itself, but the thing races along so fast that nothing really sticks. And there is no picture. Just talk.

 

Granted the dialogue rarely involved more than two people, but Cormac McCarthy doesn't use them at all in his book The Road (or speech marks, either, for what it's worth) and not once did I wonder who was saying what.

 

It's some time since I read it, but my memory is that while he did not use speech marks, he did use tags copiously.

I might have remembered it incorrectly though?

 

Go with body language. There's a ton people say with their bodies if you just pay attention. No dialogue is complete without all the bits that don't get said. Rubbing the chin, steepling the hands together, shifting from foot to foot,...

Btw @Link the Writer that was a well-crafted piece of dialogue

 

You're correct. He used tags quite frequently, but only as many as he needed to orient the reader in the conversation.

 

It's not that long since I read it, so I have no excuse. I just have a brain like a boiled cabbage.

 

Hold, on. I really should trust my memory more.

I've just grabbed the book in question and I'm perfectly correct. He doesn't use dialogue tags.

I even remember him saying in an interview that he doesn't use tags because if the writing is clear enough, it should be obvious who is talking.

 

No he doesn't. He will use one at the start of the conversation to identify the starter, but that's about the only time he uses them.

I stress The Road is the only one of his books I've read and am referring specifically to this book.

 

You simply cannot look at any passages of dialogue in this book and argue against the view that, in general, he doesn't use tags.

To say he uses them 'copiously' is yet even further from the truth.

 

I wasn't intending to debate semantics; just sharing my hazy memory of the book.

 

No, I realise that. You admitted in your OP that your memory may be fuzzy on the subject. I used your statement just to illustrate a point regarding the consensus McCarthy does use dialogue tags, which was being argued since your reply to my own.

 

This one's really easy to put to bed. I have a digital copy of The Road and...

246 - he said

6 - she said

48 - the boy said

39 - the man said

4 - said the boy

0 - said the man

(there is one occurrence of the woman said, but it's not a tag, it's part of someone's actual dialogue)