Cambridge IGCSETechnique 3 of 4

Writing dialogue

Dialogue is the first thing examiners notice and the first thing students get wrong. Master the punctuation first. Then master what every line is doing on the page.

Punctuation rules

Get these six rules right and you already look more controlled than half the entry.

New speaker, new line.

“I saw him,” she said.
“Where?” Tom asked.

Speech marks wrap the spoken words only, including the final punctuation.

“I’m not going.”
“You said you would.”

Use a comma (not a full stop) before a speech tag.

“I’m leaving,” she said. / NOT: “I’m leaving.” She said.

If a question or exclamation ends the speech, use ? or ! - then lowercase for the tag.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

If dialogue is broken by a tag, the second part is a continuation of the sentence.

“I went there once,” she said, “when I was a child.”

Use an action beat instead of a tag when you can. New line, but no “he said”.

“I went there once.” She set her teacup down carefully. “When I was a child.”

The four jobs of dialogue

Every line of speech on the page should do at least one of these four things. If a line does none of them, cut it.

1. Reveal character

The way a person speaks - vocabulary, rhythm, what they avoid - should be as distinctive as the way they walk.

Example

““I’d prefer, if it’s all the same, not to sit at the window.””

What it does: Formal register, qualifying clause, revealed anxiety about being seen.

2. Advance the plot

A line of dialogue should move the story forward - a decision made, a secret dropped, a plan changed.

Example

““Fine. I’ll come. But only as far as the bridge.””

What it does: Decision + limit - the compromise pushes the story into its next scene.

3. Carry subtext

What a character says should not be exactly what they mean. The reader should feel the gap.

Example

““No, no, honestly, it’s lovely. It’s exactly what I’d have chosen.””

What it does: The triple reassurance tells us it is not at all what they would have chosen.

4. Shift the pace

Short, snapped dialogue speeds a scene up. Slow, interrupted dialogue slows it down. Use both deliberately.

Example

““Don’t.” “I have to.” “Don’t.””

What it does: Three words, three beats of paragraph break. Maximum tension from minimum text.

Said is invisible

Students often replace said with a thesaurus parade: exclaimed, uttered, ejaculated, interrogated. Examiners find this exhausting. Said is the correct word 90% of the time. The reader\u2019s eye slides over it. Save stronger verbs for moments when the tone needs to shift: whispered, snapped, muttered - and even then, sparingly.

Better still, use an action beat instead of a tag. Let the character do something small in the same paragraph as their line:

“I don’t know.” He pressed his knuckles against the glass. “I really don’t.”

Traps to avoid

Greetings. “Hello, how are you?” “I am fine, thank you, and you?” cuts valuable word count for no payoff. Start two lines in.
Exposition dumps. Don\u2019t let characters tell each other things they both already know just so the reader learns them.
Name-checking. People rarely use each other\u2019s names in conversation. If your dialogue has three names in six lines, it sounds unnatural.

Back to narrative

Cambridge IGCSETechnique 3 of 4

Writing dialogue

Dialogue is the first thing examiners notice and the first thing students get wrong. Master the punctuation first. Then master what every line is doing on the page.

Punctuation rules

Get these six rules right and you already look more controlled than half the entry.

New speaker, new line.

“I saw him,” she said.
“Where?” Tom asked.

Speech marks wrap the spoken words only, including the final punctuation.

“I’m not going.”
“You said you would.”

Use a comma (not a full stop) before a speech tag.

“I’m leaving,” she said. / NOT: “I’m leaving.” She said.

If a question or exclamation ends the speech, use ? or ! - then lowercase for the tag.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

If dialogue is broken by a tag, the second part is a continuation of the sentence.

“I went there once,” she said, “when I was a child.”

Use an action beat instead of a tag when you can. New line, but no “he said”.

“I went there once.” She set her teacup down carefully. “When I was a child.”

The four jobs of dialogue

Every line of speech on the page should do at least one of these four things. If a line does none of them, cut it.

1. Reveal character

The way a person speaks - vocabulary, rhythm, what they avoid - should be as distinctive as the way they walk.

Example

““I’d prefer, if it’s all the same, not to sit at the window.””

What it does: Formal register, qualifying clause, revealed anxiety about being seen.

2. Advance the plot

A line of dialogue should move the story forward - a decision made, a secret dropped, a plan changed.

Example

““Fine. I’ll come. But only as far as the bridge.””

What it does: Decision + limit - the compromise pushes the story into its next scene.

3. Carry subtext

What a character says should not be exactly what they mean. The reader should feel the gap.

Example

““No, no, honestly, it’s lovely. It’s exactly what I’d have chosen.””

What it does: The triple reassurance tells us it is not at all what they would have chosen.

4. Shift the pace

Short, snapped dialogue speeds a scene up. Slow, interrupted dialogue slows it down. Use both deliberately.

Example

““Don’t.” “I have to.” “Don’t.””

What it does: Three words, three beats of paragraph break. Maximum tension from minimum text.

Said is invisible

Better still, use an action beat instead of a tag. Let the character do something small in the same paragraph as their line:

“I don’t know.” He pressed his knuckles against the glass. “I really don’t.”

Traps to avoid

Greetings. “Hello, how are you?” “I am fine, thank you, and you?” cuts valuable word count for no payoff. Start two lines in.
Exposition dumps. Don\u2019t let characters tell each other things they both already know just so the reader learns them.
Name-checking. People rarely use each other\u2019s names in conversation. If your dialogue has three names in six lines, it sounds unnatural.

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Writing dialogue

Punctuation rules

The four jobs of dialogue

Traps to avoid

Writing dialogue

Punctuation rules

The four jobs of dialogue

Traps to avoid