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Writer's Room => Picture Books (PB) => Topic started by: Write4kids on July 12, 2015, 02:41 PM

Title: He Said, She said?
Post by: Write4kids on July 12, 2015, 02:41 PM

Do I have to write "he said,"  "she exlaimed," etc. if it's obvious who is speaking?

Title: Re: He Said, She said?
Post by: JulieM on July 12, 2015, 03:05 PM

No. I find it helpful to revisit books in the library to see what others have done when addressing this issue. From memory, books such as "IM BORED" don't have tags at all, but speech bubbles. But short answer is "no".

Title: Re: He Said, She said?
Post by: JodyJS on July 13, 2015, 04:26 AM

Nope. In fact, if you don't have to, don't.

Title: Re: He Said, She said?
Post by: Write4kids on July 13, 2015, 04:49 AM

Lol..Jody this came up because of the latest assignment!!  Thank you ladies!

Title: Re: He Said, She said?
Post by: JodyJS on July 13, 2015, 10:24 AM

 :lol4! I thought of something else, too, Mary. If there's a bunch of back and forth dialogue between characters, and you don't want an editor to get confused about who's speaking, and you don't want to use he said/she said, you can always indicate who the speaker is by doing something like this, assuming you've used the character's names previously.

"That's a great dog."        [Bernie]
"You're a great dog."        [Lola]
"Oh. Thanks, I guess."
"By the way, do you know where the cat is?"

Title: Re: He Said, She said?
Post by: Eileen Kennedy-Moore on July 14, 2015, 05:23 AM

Definitely not! In fact, I think it's a sign of good writing if the voices are distinct enough that you don't need to attribute comments. In a picture book, the illustrations can also indicate who is talking.

Title: Re: He Said, She said?
Post by: Write4kids on July 14, 2015, 08:39 AM

Thanks Eileen, I totally agree with you!!!

Title: Re: He Said, She said?
Post by: Anne Marie on July 14, 2015, 09:22 AM

I will add that it can be confusing to read a picture book aloud to a child without dialogue tags.  So consider your audience.

Title: Re: He Said, She said?
Post by: JodyJS on July 15, 2015, 09:10 AM

Good point, Anne Marie.

Title: Re: He Said, She said?
Post by: Kell on July 15, 2015, 09:24 AM

That's what funny voices are for, Anne Marie!