Is there a right way and a wrong way to write dialog? Turns out, there is. Take this quiz and see if you know which sentence is best.
1. “My book contains an error,” said Scarlett O’Hara.
2. “My book contains an error,” Scarlett O’Hara said.
3. Said Scarlett O’Hara, “My book contains an error.”
4. Scarlett O’Hara said, “My book contains an error.”
5. “My book,” said Scarlett O’Hara, “contains an error.”
Sentence 5 is the worst of the five. In it, the spoken thought is interrupted with the name of the speaker. A sentence should not be stopped to tell who is saying it and then resumed to finish it. A sentence of dialog should be kept together.
Sentences 3 and 4 are next worst. Almost always, spoken words are more important than the name of the person who speaks them. Spoken words—the dialog—should go first. “Said” is an almost invisible word in written dialog. It should not be highlighted. Rather, it should be tucked after the name of the person speaking. So 4 is a better sentence than 3.
That leaves 1 and 2. Which is more important—the name of the speaker or the word “said”? The name of the speaker, of course. So 2 is the better sentence in that pair, and is the best sentence of all the options.
You might say, but I’ve read great writers who interrupt quotations by identifying who is speaking or who put the name of the speaker after the word “said” or its equivalent. I have too. For example,
From The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “And Daisy ought to have something in her life,” murmured Jordan to me.
From The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemingway: “One more,” Brett said, “and I must run.”
From To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: “Well I don’t,” said Uncle Jack, “not unless there’s extreme provocation connected with ‘em.”
I could say that if you become as famous as Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Lee, you can write any way you want. But if you check carefully through their novels, you’ll find the authors follow the practice explained above far more often than not.
English Writing Teacher 