The short phrase attached to dialogue that tells the reader who's speaking, like 'she said' or 'he whispered.'
A dialogue tag is the brief attribution phrase that identifies the speaker of a line of dialogue. The most common ones are 'said' and 'asked,' but writers sometimes reach for more descriptive verbs like 'whispered,' 'shouted,' or 'muttered.' The tag can come before, after, or in the middle of the spoken line, and its placement affects the rhythm of the exchange.
Dialogue tags are one of those invisible mechanics that readers barely notice when done well but stumble over when done poorly. Using 'said' most of the time keeps the focus on what your characters are actually saying. The moment you start reaching for fancy alternatives like 'exclaimed' or 'opined,' you risk pulling readers out of the conversation and into your thesaurus.
McCarthy uses almost no dialogue tags at all, relying on context and the two-character dynamic to keep speakers clear. It creates a stripped-down, urgent feel.
Rowling leans heavily on descriptive tags ('said Ron angrily'), which some writing guides critique but which clearly didn't stop millions of readers from loving the dialogue.
Hemingway uses 'said' almost exclusively, letting the tension live entirely in what the characters say and don't say.
Trust 'said.' It's invisible. Save the unusual verbs for moments where tone genuinely needs clarifying - maybe once or twice per scene.
Once the rhythm is established, you can drop tags for several exchanges. Readers can track two speakers by alternation. Re-tag when you break the pattern or after 4-5 untagged lines.
You can't 'laugh' a sentence or 'shrug' a word. 'Ha,' she laughed' works, but 'I don't think so,' she shrugged' doesn't. Make the action a separate beat instead.
Take a page of dialogue you've written and strip out every dialogue tag. Replace half of them with action beats and delete the rest entirely. Read it aloud. Where do you lose track of who's speaking? Add back only the minimum tags needed to keep it clear.