What You Need to Know

Key Concept Diagram

Dialogue reveals character through word choice, speech patterns, and what characters say (or avoid saying)

Use a variety of dialogue tags and action beats rather than repeating "said"

Punctuate dialogue correctly: speech marks, commas, and capital letters in the right places

Subtext is what characters mean but do not say directly — it creates depth and realism

Key Vocabulary

Dialogue

A conversation between two or more characters in a narrative text

Dialogue tag

The attribution phrase after or before speech, e.g. "she said", "he whispered"

Subtext

The unspoken meaning or feelings beneath the surface of dialogue

Action beat

A brief description of a character's action used in place of or alongside a dialogue tag

Knowledge Check

Select the correct answer for each question. Click "Check Answer" to see if you are right.

Question 1

Which punctuation correctly formats a line of dialogue?

"Let's go," she said. "Lets go, she said." 'Let's go'. She said. "Let's go." She said.

Question 2

Why is it effective to use action beats alongside dialogue?

It avoids the need for any dialogue tags It anchors speech in physical action, revealing character and adding pacing It makes the dialogue shorter It replaces the need for description elsewhere

Question 3

What is subtext in dialogue?

Text written below the speech bubbles in a graphic novel A footnote explaining difficult words The unspoken meaning or feelings beneath what characters say Dialogue that appears at the end of a story

Dialogue as Character Craft