This document provides examples and formatting tips for writing dialogue in narratives. It discusses the purposes of dialogue, including advancing the plot and revealing characters. It explains that dialogue is written with quotation marks and separated from narration. It then provides examples of both outer dialogue between characters and inner dialogue within a character's thoughts. Finally, it outlines nine rules for properly formatting dialogue, such as using new paragraphs for different speakers and quotation marks to indicate direct speech.

1. Dialogue Examples (With Writing andFormat Tips)
Dialogue is typically a conversation between two or more people in a narrative work. As
aliterary technique, dialogue serves several purposes. It can advance the plot, reveal a
character's thoughts or feelings, or show how characters react in the moment.
Dialogue is written using quotation marks around the speaker's exact words. These quotation
marks are meant to set the dialogue apart from the narration, which is written as standard text.
Together, let's explore some dialogue examples.
What Is Dialogue?
In writing, dialogue shows a character speaking. It works to tell you more about the character
and how they converse with others or react. When it comes to dialogue, you might see two types:
outer and inner dialogue.
 Outer dialogue iswhena character talks to anothercharacter inthe story or play.Thisisthe
classicdialogue yousee mostof the time,setoff byquotationmarks.
 Inner (internal) dialogue iswhenacharacter talksor thinkssomethingtothemselveslike an
innermonologue.Inwrittenworks,thisissetoff byquotationmarksoritalics.
To truly understand dialogue, it’s important to look at dialogue examples
How to Format Dialogue in a Story
Formatting dialogue can be tricky, but consistency and familiarity with
convention are essential to proficient writing. Use these nine formatting
rules to structure your dialogue on the page.

2. 1. Use Quotation Marks to Indicate Spoken Word
Whenever someone is speaking, their words should be enclosed in double
quotation marks.
Example: “Let’s go to the beach.”
2. Dialogue Tags Stay Outside the Quotation Marks
Dialogue tags attribute a line of dialogue to one of the characters so that the
reader knows who is speaking. Dialogue tags stay outside the quotation
marks, while the punctuation stays inside the quotation marks.
Example: “There was blood everywhere,” Karen explained.
If the dialogue tag comes before the dialogue, the comma appears before
the first quotation mark.
Example: Karen explained, “There was blood everywhere.”
If the dialogue ends with an exclamation point or a question mark, the tags
that follow begin in lowercase. The dialogue punctuation still goes inside the
quotation marks.
Example: “There was blood everywhere!” she explained.
3. Use a Separate Sentence for Actions That Happen Before or After the Dialogue
If an action occurs before or after the lines of dialogue, it should be given its
own sentence. For instance, if Daniel gasps and then speaks, it would look
like this:
Example: Daniel gasped. “You’re dying?”
4. Use Single Quotes When Quoting Something Within the Dialogue
If a character is quoting something or somebody else within their dialogue,
use single quotation marks to indicate that the character is quoting someone
else.
Example: Sam started to cry. “When you said, ‘I never want to see
you again!’ it hurt my feelings.”
5. Use a New Paragraph to Indicate a New Speaker
Any time you change speakers, you should begin a new paragraph with an
indent. If the speaker performs an action after speaking, you should keep

3. that speaker’s action in the same paragraph. Then, move onto a new line in
the next paragraph when someone else begins speaking. This helps the
reader know who is speaking and who is performing the action.
Example: “Danny, I’m going to need you to take a look at this,” said
Captain Mark. He gestured to the photograph on his desk.
“My God,” muttered Captain Mark. His eyes darted from the
photograph to his empty coffee cup. He knew it was going to be a
long night.
6. Start With a Lowercase Letter If Action Interrupts Dialogue
If action comes in the middle of a sentence of dialogue, the first letter of the
second fragment should be in lowercase.
Example: “At the end of the day,” he bellowed, “there’s always
more soup!”
7. Long Speeches Have Their Own Rules
If a person speaks for a long enough period of time so as to necessitate a
new paragraph, the dialogue formatting rules are slightly different than
normal. The opening quotation marks are placed at the first part of the first
paragraph as well as each subsequent paragraph. The closing quotation
marks, however, are placed only at the end of the last paragraph.
Example: Jasper took a deep breath and began. “Here’s the thing
about sharks. They’re vicious, vicious creatures. They only know
how to do one thing: kill. Have you ever seen a shark in the open
water? Probably not. Because if you had, you’d already be dead.
“I saw a shark once. I was scuba diving off the marina, looking for
starfish to give to my sick wife. She believes that starfish are good
luck. Well, one man’s fortune is another man’s folly. All of a sudden
I found myself face to face with a great white. My heart stopped. I
froze up. I knew that was the end. If it hadn’t been for that pontoon
boat, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
8. Em Dashes Indicate Interruption
Em dashes (not to be confused with hyphens) are used to indicate
interruptions and abrupt endings in dialogue. When formatting dialogue with
em dashes, the dashes should be placed inside the quotation marks.

4. Example: Bethany began to speak. “I just thought we could—”
“I don’t want to hear it,” interrupted Abigail.
9. Don’t Add Additional Punctuation When Using Ellipses
If you’re writing dialogue that ends with an ellipsis, you should not add a
comma or any additional punctuation. Ellipses are used to indicate the
trailing off of dialogue.
Example: Lindsay let out a low whistle. “I guess this is the end of
the line…” she said, her voice trailing off.