The document provides 8 rules for writing dialogue in short stories. It explains how to properly use quotation marks, punctuation, and attribution when writing dialogue. It emphasizes varying dialogue tags beyond just "said" and including dialogue to make stories more interesting. It also provides a long list of alternative dialogue words and recommends additional resources on writing dialogue.

3. Rule #2
Exactly what the speaker says will
have quotation marks around it.
“This is an example.”

4. Rule # 3 Punctuation goes INSIDE
the quotation Marks!
“I absolutely love pepperoni
pizza!” exclaimed Matty.

5. Rule # 4 If the annotation is first,
you place the comma after it:
Jacob said, “I wish I could go.”

6. Rule # 5 If the annotation is last, you
put the comma inside the quotation
marks, and then put a period at the
end. If it is a question or exclamation,
the ? and ! go inside the quotation
marks:
“I wish I could go,” Jacob said.
“I wish I could go!” Jacob
exclaimed

7. Rule # 6 You do not have to tell
who the speaker is each time if the
dialogue is between two people
and they are having a lot of back-and-
forth conversations. Your
readers will understand.

8. Rule # 7 Use a VARIETY of
explanatory words such as “stated,
questioned, observed, screamed,
and agreed” instead of always using
“said.”

9. Rule # 8 Whenever possible, always
include dialogue in your short story.
It makes it a LOT more interesting!

10. Dialogue Words to Use Instead of “Said”
accused acknowledged added addressed admitted
advised affirmed agreed announced answered
apologized approved argued asked asserted
assured avowed babbled barked bawled
beamed began begged bellowed bet
bleated blurted boasted boomed bragged
broke in bubbled bugged burst out called
cautioned chatted chattered cheered chided
chimed in chittered chocked chortled chorused
chuckled claimed clucked coaxed commanded
commented complained conceded concluded confessed
confided congratulated continued convinced cooed
corrected coughed countered cried croaked
crowed dared decided declared demanded
denied described disagreed disclosed divulged
doubted drawled echoed ended exclaimed
explained finished fretted gasped gently
gibed giggled greeted groaned growled
grunted grumbled guessed gulped gurgled
hinted hissed hollered hypothesized imitated
implied informed inquired insisted interjected
interrupted intoned jeered jested joked
laughed lied lisped maintained marveled
mentioned mimicked moaned mumbled murmured

11. mused muttered nagged nodded noted
objected observed offered ordered panted
piped pleaded pled pointed out pondered
praised prayed proclaimed promised proposed
protested purred put in puzzled quavered
queried questioned quipped quoted ranted
reasoned reassured recalled reckoned related
remarked remembered reminded repeated replied
reported requested resounded responded retorted
revealed roared sang sassed screamed
scoffed scolded shot shouted shrieked
shrilled sighed smiled smirk snapped
snarled sneered sneezed snickered sniffed
sniffled snorted sobbed spat speculated
spoke sputtered squeaked stammered started
stated stormed stuttered suggested surmised
taunted teased tempted tested theorized
threatened told trilled urged uttered
volunteered vowed wailed warned went on
wept whimpered whined whispered wondered
worried yawned yakked
http://www.spwickstrom.com/said/

12. Other great resources:
http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/writingexercises/qt/punctuation.htm
http://www.writingfix.com/PDFs/Writing_Tools/Rules_of_dialogue.pdf
http://writingfix.com/PDFs/Writing_Tools/Tom_Swiftie_Dialogue_rules.pdf
http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/files/ywp/ywp_10_hs_dialogue.pdf

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