tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post5844363373986120082..comments2024-03-28T10:41:26.999-06:00Comments on Blood-Red Pencil: Ask the Editor: More on Dialogue TagsDanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471919576687777886noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-26478597445646356042009-01-18T18:22:00.000-07:002009-01-18T18:22:00.000-07:00Great post - thanks very much for putting it all s...Great post - thanks very much for putting it all so succinctly.TheOneTrueSuehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18152442732262673983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-17209097639499160582009-01-18T14:33:00.000-07:002009-01-18T14:33:00.000-07:00Great discussion, Marvin. I would like to add a co...Great discussion, Marvin. I would like to add a couple of comments, though. <BR/><BR/>First, if there are only two people in the scene and one of them says, "Mary, what did you do?" aren't we very likely to assume that John is doing the talking? If yes, I'd leave that "John said" out, too.<BR/><BR/>Very often, a bit of action can serve double duty by revealing who is talking. Marvin shows this in his rewrite, and that is a very valuable lesson.<BR/><BR/>Another point is that "It depends." Generally, in high action scenes, the fewer the tags, the better. You want the action to really radiate. In more sedate or establishing scenes, you may want to slow things down a bit, and in that case, some well-chosen (but not too fluffy) tags will help achieve the pacing the author desires.<BR/><BR/>Billie<BR/>http://otpblog.blogspot.comBillieJohnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05337146996871941279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-16761717843898912522009-01-18T11:29:00.000-07:002009-01-18T11:29:00.000-07:00Great example, Marvin. Thanks for this informative...Great example, Marvin. Thanks for this informative post!Mary Cunninghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04377529303481858837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-54810826966817694482009-01-18T11:14:00.000-07:002009-01-18T11:14:00.000-07:00I usually write the story, then go back and look f...I usually write the story, then go back and look for places where I can eliminate tags and still make sense. It's surprising how many I can find.<BR/><BR/>Morgan Mandel<BR/>http://morganmandel.blogspot.com<BR/>http://www.morganmandel.com<BR/>http://twitter.com/morganmandelMorgan Mandelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10118929301591850918noreply@blogger.com