[Write4kids Posts: 41 Status: Offline Write for your life! WWW]

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

[JulieM Posts: 834 Status: Offline WWW]

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".

[JodyJS Posts: 1,246 Status: Offline Preorder now! Out April 2021! WWW]

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

[Write4kids Posts: 41 Status: Offline Write for your life! WWW]

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

[JodyJS Posts: 1,246 Status: Offline Preorder now! Out April 2021! WWW]

 ! 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?"

[Eileen Kennedy-Moore Posts: 78 Status: Offline Award-winning books for kids and parents WWW]

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.

[Write4kids Posts: 41 Status: Offline Write for your life! WWW]

Thanks Eileen, I totally agree with you!!!

[Anne Marie Posts: 2,854 Status: Offline VAMPIRINA season 3 is on Disney Junior now! WWW]

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

[JodyJS Posts: 1,246 Status: Offline Preorder now! Out April 2021! WWW]

Good point, Anne Marie.

[Kell Posts: 1,202 Status: Offline On the other hand WWW]

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