I tend to drop in he said, she said periodically. I've noticed I can get lost with a lot of back and forth dialog, especially if the character voices are not all that distinct. Sometimes I add actions, emotion tags, interrupted dialog, anything that seems logical given whatever the characters are doing. I get tired standing on one foot listening to someone talk, so my characters do, too. Shift weight from foot to foot, scratch an itch, notice a squirrel through a window, nod their head.
I just finished Bable, it has both. I caught a character who kept talking even though the paragraph was interrupted, twice (Ironically, it may have been a translation/formatting error when translating). But the closed quotation was also applied to all long monologues if they didn't have action intertwining in the middle.
I've been running into this in my current WIP. I instinctively start new paragraphs when a new character starts talking, but I also tend to indicate who is talking by adding an action/how things were said tag to the dialogue, which given the current scene is just two people talking, it might be unnecesary. I've been trying to avoid using "he said" at all, though I'm recognizing the pitfalls of that stylistic choice, since I can't indicate how things were said. I have to rely on descriptions of facial expressions, body movement, etc. to get across emotions not obvious from the dialogue itself. Which is fine, but also hard. The number of facial expression that include furrowed eyebrows, but have totally different meanings is kind of insane.
I agree. If you need something in your book that isn't there, use it. If not, don't. I don't even listen to writing advice, it's all regurgitated and some people believe they have to follow it. In these wonderful days of self-publishing you can write what you want. Sadly, no matter how polished your manuscript is it won't mean that it will sell. That's why I advocate writing for its own sake.
I tend to drop in he said, she said periodically. I've noticed I can get lost with a lot of back and forth dialog, especially if the character voices are not all that distinct. Sometimes I add actions, emotion tags, interrupted dialog, anything that seems logical given whatever the characters are doing. I get tired standing on one foot listening to someone talk, so my characters do, too. Shift weight from foot to foot, scratch an itch, notice a squirrel through a window, nod their head.
I just finished Bable, it has both. I caught a character who kept talking even though the paragraph was interrupted, twice (Ironically, it may have been a translation/formatting error when translating). But the closed quotation was also applied to all long monologues if they didn't have action intertwining in the middle.
I've been running into this in my current WIP. I instinctively start new paragraphs when a new character starts talking, but I also tend to indicate who is talking by adding an action/how things were said tag to the dialogue, which given the current scene is just two people talking, it might be unnecesary. I've been trying to avoid using "he said" at all, though I'm recognizing the pitfalls of that stylistic choice, since I can't indicate how things were said. I have to rely on descriptions of facial expressions, body movement, etc. to get across emotions not obvious from the dialogue itself. Which is fine, but also hard. The number of facial expression that include furrowed eyebrows, but have totally different meanings is kind of insane.
Monologues can be some of the most interesting parts of a book. It just depends on if they’re warranted or not
I agree. If you need something in your book that isn't there, use it. If not, don't.
I don't even listen to writing advice, it's all regurgitated and some people believe they have to follow it. In these wonderful days of self-publishing you can write what you want.
Sadly, no matter how polished your manuscript is it won't mean that it will sell. That's why I advocate writing for its own sake.