FICTION WRITING
How to write direct speech
This guide contains a selection of rules and tips for writing direct speech. You don’t want your writing assessments to be dominated by direct speech (unless you’re specifically asked to), but adding some accurate and well-written direct speech will help you to meet assessment objectives around paragraphing, punctuation, characterisation and ‘show don’t tell’, so it’s a useful skill to master.
This guide is part of the Fiction writing series:
Contents of this guide
There must be some punctuation at the end of each bit of direct speech
Speech declarations should be embedded in longer pieces of speech
‘Said’ and ‘asked’ should be your default verbs for speech declarations
Avoid verbs that aren’t speech verbs in your speech declarations
Add actions or thoughts into direct speech, using the ‘before’ or ‘after’ approach
1. New speaker = new paragraph
This is the first rule, and it’s a very straightforward one. When a new person speaks, you should start a new paragraph. You can include some actions or thoughts in the same paragraph, immediately before a character speaks (see Rule 8 below), but these should only be fairly brief. And every time a new character starts speaking you should start a new paragraph, even if each of your paragraphs becomes very short. And it is a new paragraph, not just a new line, which is what some people seem to think. You need to demarcate the new paragraph by indenting it (see the separate guide to paragraph demarcation for more information on this). For example:
“Hello,” Alex said.
“Hello,” Peter said. “Your hair looks fabulous! It’s so glossy!”
“Thanks!”
“Hello,” Alex said. “Hello,” Peter said. “Your hair looks fabulous! It’s so glossy!” “Thanks!”
2. There must be some punctuation at the end of each bit of direct speech
This is another straightforward one. At the end of each bit of speech (e.g. immediately before the closing speech marks), you must have some punctuation. There are different rules about what punctuation you can use (see Rules 3 and 4 below), but the key thing to remember is that there must be some. You can see this in the examples below:
“Hello,” Alex said.
“Hello!” Peter said, enthusiastically.
“Your hair is nice too.”
“Hello” Alex said.
“Hello” Peter said, enthusiastically.
“Your hair is nice too”
3. Never put a full-stop before a speech declaration
A speech declaration is the bit of speech which states who is speaking (e.g. Alex said). There are several rules about how to use speech declarations in this guide, but this is the first one. Before you add your speech declaration you need some punctuation to end the direct speech (see Rule 2 above), but this must NOT be a full stop. Your options are: a comma, a question mark, an exclamation mark, or a dash (for interrupted speech) – but never a full-stop. A full stop is only acceptable if the sentence after the direct speech is not a speech declaration – see example 5 below:
“Hello!” Alex said.
“What’s up?” Alex asked.
“No, your hair is even more fabulous!” Alex cried.
“No, I insist. You have the best–”Alex began.
“I’m not sure.” Alex paused, uncertain what to say. “Maybe.”
“Hello.” Alex said.
4. If the punctuation before the speech declaration is a question mark or an exclamation mark, the speech declaration should still start with a lower-case letter, unless it’s a proper noun
This rule sounds more complicated than it is. Essentially, although an exclamation mark or a question mark would normally mark the end of a sentence, this is not the case with direct speech when there’s a speech declaration. The end of the sentence is actually the end of the speech declaration. You should be able to see this in these examples.
“Hello!” he said.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“No, your hair is better!” Peter cried.
“Hello!” He said.
“What’s up?” He asked.
“No, your hair is better!” peter cried.
5. Speech declarations should be embedded in longer pieces of speech
When you have a longer piece of direct speech – multiple sentences, essentially – you should embed the speech declaration after the first sentence, rather than putting it at the end of the speech. This is so the reader knows who is speaking right away. Otherwise, they’d have to get to the end of a long passage of speech before knowing who was saying the words. This is a common mistake that students make, but getting it right will make your writing sound more sophisticated right away.
“I’m not sure why we keep talking about one another’s hair,” Alex said. “Don’t you think it’s weird? Two guys going on about how fabulous their hair is. I mean, it doesn’t seem very realistic.”
“What’s wrong with two guys complimenting one another’s hair? I think your attitude is very outdated. Why does our gender matter? Would it be more acceptable to you if you and I were girls?” Peter asked.
In the second example, the speech declaration should come after “one another’s hair”, rather than at the end of the four sentences.
6. ‘Said’ and ‘asked’ should be your default verbs for speech declarations
Despite what you may have been told, professional writers do not use different verbs for every speech declaration. Quite the opposite. They used ‘said’ for most statements and ‘asked’ for most questions. You do not need to worry about repeating these verbs in your direct speech. Use them as often as you want. It’s okay to use other verbs too, if you need to convey a particular way that the words are spoken (e.g. whispered, shouted, etc), but don’t force it by using a different speech verb every time, just for the sake of it. It’s clunky and amateurish, not sophisticated.
“I guess it wouldn’t,” Alex said. “I didn’t realise I was such a sexist.”
“Most men don’t,” Peter said with a sigh and a shake of the head.
“How did you get so clever?” Alex asked.
“I read some books,” Peter stated.
“What books?” Alex questioned.
“I’ll email you the Amazon links,” Peter declared.
“That would be great!” Alex exclaimed.
You should also try to be consistent with the order of verb and speaker. It’s best to use “BLANK said” rather than “said BLANK” for this reason. “Alex said” sounds fine, as does “said Alex”, but “said he” sounds weird and old-fashioned, whilst “he said” is good. This doesn’t matter massively, but every little helps.
7. Avoid verbs that aren’t speech verbs in your speech declarations
This is really a continuation of the last rule. When you write your speech declarations, try to make sure the verbs are actually speech verbs, and not just general verbs. If you want to put actions in, put them in as actions and not as speech declarations.
“I’ll try to be a better man in future,” Alex said with a smile.
Peter shrugged. “Good luck with that,” he said wearily, placing his right hand on his cheek.
“You don’t sound very confident,” Alex frowned.
“I guess I’m not,” Peter sighed.
“Even if I read those books?” Alex smiled.
8. Add actions or thoughts into direct speech, using the ‘before’ or ‘after’ approach
This rule builds on the last rule. When you are writing direct speech, it’s great to include small actions or descriptions which make the scene more vivid, as well as thoughts/feelings which show what’s going on in a character’s mind as the speech takes place. Doing this will make your direct speech much richer.
“Sorry to be so negative,” Peter said, his silky, smooth hair swirling around his head in the windy carpark. “I do believe in you really.”
Alex forced a smile. He wasn’t sure that he believed in himself anymore. “Thanks, mate,” he said, limply. He looked down at the tarmac, unsure what to say next. Then it came to him. “And your hair really does look fabulous. I wasn’t just being nice.”
Peter beamed. “Thanks!” he said, raising his hand to stroke Alex’s hair. “Right back at you! What product do you use? You’ve got so much control, without your hair looking clumpy or greasy. It’s really impressive!”
Alex blushed. “Stop it!””
As you can see from these examples, you can include the actions/thoughts before the speech starts (e.g. Alex forced a smile), or after the speech declaration, using an adverbial phrase with a present participle (e.g. his silky, smooth hair swirling around his head in the windy carpark). This is something professional writers do all the time in passages of direct speech, and it’s a simple way for you to make your own writing sound more professional.
Summing up - key things to remember when writing direct speech
New speaker = new paragraph
There must be some punctuation at the end of each bit of direct speech
Never put a full-stop before a speech declaration
If the punctuation before the speech declaration is a question mark or an exclamation mark, the speech declaration should still start with a lower-case letter, unless it’s a proper noun
Speech declarations should be embedded in longer pieces of speech
‘Said’ and ‘asked’ should be your default verbs for speech declarations
Avoid verbs that aren’t speech verbs in your speech declarations
Add actions or thoughts into direct speech, using the ‘before’ or ‘after’ approach