Good dialogue does two things at once: it sounds like a real person speaking, and it’s punctuated correctly so the reader never stumbles. Most dialogue problems are either mechanical (punctuation) or musical (it doesn’t sound human). Here’s how to handle both.
The punctuation rules
These are the conventions that trip people up most:
- Quotation marks wrap the spoken words:
"I'll be there by noon." - Punctuation goes inside the quotation marks (in US style):
"Let's go."not"Let's go". - A dialogue tag (he said, she asked) attaches with a comma, not a period:
"I'm leaving," she said.— comma inside the quotes, lowercase “she.” - If the quote is a question or exclamation, keep its mark and still lowercase the tag:
"Are you sure?" he asked. - Tag before the speech takes a comma before the quote:
She smiled and said, "Of course." - New speaker, new paragraph. Start a fresh paragraph every time the speaker changes — it’s how readers track who’s talking without a tag on every line.
Action beats instead of tags
You don’t need “said” on every line. An action beat shows who’s speaking and adds movement:
“I don’t think so.” Maya closed her laptop.
Use beats and tags in moderation — too many “said” tags clutter, too few lose the reader.
Make it sound real
- Read it aloud. Real speech has rhythm; if it sounds stiff, it is. Your ear is the best test.
- Use contractions. People say “I’m” and “don’t,” not “I am” and “do not.”
- Cut the small talk. Real conversation is full of filler; good dialogue keeps only what moves the scene.
- Give each character a distinct voice — word choice and sentence length should differ between speakers.
Polish it
Dialogue punctuation is fiddly and easy to get wrong across a long piece. Run your draft through the grammar checker to catch misplaced commas and quote marks, and the readability checker to make sure the prose around the dialogue flows. If a line reads stiff, the paraphraser on Casual mode can loosen it.
Get the punctuation invisible and the voices distinct, and your dialogue will carry the scene.
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