The big idea

Dialogue--characters talking--is the spice that can make a good story become a "WOW!" story. It brings a story to life. It makes the difference between hearing ABOUT what characters are saying and actually having them say it. It makes everything more immediate.

The Bad News:

There are about twelve zillion rules about punctuating dialogue.

The Good News:

You can write pretty good dialogue if you're willing to learn and follow just four of those rules.

How to do it

Here are the four rules:

RULE NUMBER 1: Put quotation marks around anything someone ACTUALLY SAYS.

• "Stop!" screamed Bob.
  • Not "Bob told people to stop."
  • Not "Stop! screamed Bob."
  • Not Stop! "screamed Bob."
• "Why should I stop?" asked Suzy.
  • Not "Suzy wondered why she should stop."
  • Not "Why should I stop? asked Suzy."
  • Not Why should I stop? "asked Suzy."

RULE NUMBER 2: Make a new paragraph each time you switch speakers.

• Even if the "he said" phrase comes before the quote.
• Even if it means that your paragraph is one word long--that's okay in dialogue.

RULE NUMBER 3: Change periods at the ends of quotes to commas IF THE QUOTE IS FOLLOWED BY A "HE SAID" PHRASE.

• "You're standing on my foot."
• becomes "You're standing on my foot," said Bob.

• "Geez, I'm sorry."
• becomes "Geez, I'm sorry," said Suzy.

• "Get off my foot!"
• becomes "Get off my foot!" shrieked Bob.
• (Remember: exclamation marks don't change.)

• "Did you say something?"
• becomes "Did you said something?" asked Suzy.
• (Remember: question marks don't change.)

RULE NUMBER 4: Get a good balance of dialogue and narrator stuff. Dialogue should never take over — narrator stuff can help the reader visualize what is going on in your story.