Okay We Always Joke About Peter Accidentally Calling Tony Dad But Imagine That After A Long Day Of Working

Writing Tip: Don’t Be Afraid of Mixing Dialogue and Action

So I’ve been reading a lot of amateur writing lately, and I’ve noticed what seems to be a common problem: dialogue. 

Tell me if this looks familiar. You start writing a conversation, only to look down and realize it reads like: 

“I’m talking now,” he said. 

“Yes, I noticed,” she said. 

“I have nothing much to add to this conversation,” the third person said. 

And it grates on your ears. So much ‘said.’ It looks awful! It sounds repetitive. So, naturally, you try to shake it up a bit: 

“Is this any better?” He inquired. 

“I’m not sure,” she mused. 

“I definitely think so!” that other guy roared. 

This is not an improvement. This is worse. 

Now your dialogue is just as disjointed as it was before, but you have the added problem of a bunch of distracting dialogue verbs that can have an unintentionally comedic effect. 

So here’s how you avoid it: You mix up the dialogue with description. 

“Isn’t this better?” he asked, leaning forward in his seat. “Don’t you feel like we’re more grounded in reality?” 

She nodded, looking down at her freshly manicured nails. “I don’t feel like a talking head anymore.” 

“Right!” that annoying third guy added. “And now you can get some characterization crammed into the dialogue!” 

The rules of dialogue punctuation are as follows: 

Each speaker gets his/her own paragraph - when the speaker changes, you start a new paragraph. 

Within the speaker’s own paragraph, you can include action, interior thoughts, description, etc. 

You can interrupt dialogue in the middle to put in a “said” tag, and then write more dialogue from that same speaker. 

You can put the “said” tag at the beginning or end of the sentence. 

Once you’ve established which characters are talking, you don’t need a “said” tag every time they speak. 

ETA: use a comma instead of a period at the end of a sentence of dialogue, and keep the ‘said’ tag in lower caps. If you end on a ? or !, the ‘said’ tag is still in lower case. (thanks, commenters who pointed this out!) 

Some more examples: 

“If you’re writing an incomplete thought,” he said, “you put a comma, then the quote mark, then the dialogue tag.” 

“If the sentence ends, you put in a period.” She pointed at the previous sentence. “See? Complete sentences.” 

“You can also replace the dialogue tag with action.” Extra guy yawned. “When you do, you use a period instead of a comma.”

So what do you do with this newfound power? I’m glad you asked. 

You can provide description of the character and their surroundings in order to orient them in time and space while talking. 

You can reveal characterization through body language and other nonverbal cues that will add more dimension to your dialogue. 

You can add interior thoughts for your POV character between lines of dialogue - especially helpful when they’re not saying quite what they mean. 

You can control pacing. Lines of dialogue interrupted by descriptions convey a slower-paced conversation. Lines delivered with just a “said” tag, or with no dialogue tag at all, convey a more rapid-fire conversation. 

For example: 

“We’ve been talking about dialogue for a while,” he said, shifting in his seat as though uncomfortable with sitting still. 

“We sure have,” she agreed. She rose from her chair, stretching. “Shall we go, then?” 

“I think we should.” 

“Great. Let’s get out of here.” 

By controlling the pacing, you can establish mood and help guide your reader along to understanding what it is that you’re doing. 

I hope this helps you write better dialogue! If you have questions, don’t hesitate to drop me an ask :)

Colors and Flavors

If red and blue makes purple... does that mean cherry and blue raspberry makes grape?

this whole thing is way too good to be giffed you need to expirience it 

No-! Please continue I am listening

In the 2016 Disney animated movie Zootopia, fictional pop star Gazelle (voiced by Shakira) sings the song Try Everything. In this song, Gazelle speaks a few phrases of Spanish. This means that different languages, such as Spanish, exist within the Zootopia universe, meaning that at some point, there must have been a Mexican War for Independence.

Furthermore, the character, Finnick the fox listens to French rap while in the van. This means that France also exists within the Zootopia universe. So therefore, there must have been a Zootopian French Revolution, June Rebellion, etc, and if such a thing exists, so does the classic book and hit musical, Les Miserables, meaning there must be a Zootopian Broadway and therefore a Zootopian New York City. Also meaning there has to have been a Zootopian American Revolution and so on, in this essay, I will-

happy bi pride, my peeps!  💗💜💙 23rd september 2020

Masterlist

The Maze Runner:

- “I Bloody Love You” (Newt)

- Non-Immune List (Newt) Part 2

- Back Into The Maze (Newt)

- Please Don’t (Newt)

- The World is Vast (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) Part 2

5 Seconds of Summer:

- You’re too short (Luke)

- Appearances are deceptive (Luke) Part 2

- Take Me Away (Luke)

- Some Kind of Cinderella Shit (Luke) Part 2

- Break the Walls (Michael) Part 2/5 - Part 3/5 - Part 4/5 - Part 5/5

- Rumor has it (Luke) Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

Attack on Titan:

- My Master Piece (Blind!Levi)

Marvel:

- Restaurant Dates Are The Worst! (Sebastian Stan) - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Epilogue

- The Wait is Over (Bucky Barnes)

- Invisible (Bucky Barnes)

- Hotel California (Winter Widow)

- Restaurant Dates are The Worst! (Tom Hiddleston)

- A Golden Cage (Loki) - Part 2 - Finale

Once Upon a Time:

- Let Us Live (Peter Pan) Part 2

- In the Name of Love (Peter Pan)

- Once Upon in Neverland (Peter Pan) Part 2  Prequel

- I cannot sing to save a life (Robbie Kay)

- Divided We Fall (Peter Pan) Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11

Teen Wolf:

- He Had It Coming (Stiles Stilinski)

- To Care or not to Care? (Stiles Stilinski)

- Too Close for Comfort (Stiles Stilinski)

Skam:

- Play Me (Chris Schistad) Part 2 - Part 3 -  Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Epilogue

- Off Limits (Chris Schistad) Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14 - Part 15 - Part 16 - Part 17 - Part 18 - Part 19 - Part 20 - Part 21 - Epilogue

- French Kiss (Chris Schistad) - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Finale

- Hot Blood and Cloudy Minds (Chris Schistad)

Riverdale:

- Great Minds Think Alike (Jughead Jones) Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Finale

Vikings:

 - Black Water (Ivar x Mermaid!Reader)

- Hejm(løs) (Ivar) - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8

- Picture Perfect (Alex Høgh Andersen)

Is my dad only nice to me because he slept with my mom?

me 5 seconds before receiving disappointed looks

i am sitting on the couch, i hear tapping on the door behind me, i turn around and see this

what do i do

Tony: hey, kiddo, how’ve you been? How’s school?

Peter, a struggling™️ teen: I am a festive piñata and God is a thirteen year old boy whose parents just announced their divorce.

Tony:

Loki walks in the room: same

I've been unconscious so many times its ridiculous

first aid class was lit