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Yes, if you need a dialogue tag, you should use it, but tags aren't necessary nearly as often as most writers seem to think.

In most cases, you don't need to describe either how the person walked or how they talked. What is said, or what is done, is usually more important than how it was said or done. (Not always, of course. I'm not into universal rules, no matter how cute and funny lists like that are.)

In action, you probably wouldn't want to say "He limped across the room" unless you wanted to remind us that the hero was, say, a partly disabled veteran. You'd be more likely to say, "Despite the crowds, he had returned with the drinks before she finished repairing the damage to her shoe." That he had to walk across the room to get the drink is probably secondary in most stories.

Similarly, with dialogue, an action or thought is usually more informative than a dialogue tag.

Despite the crowds, he had returned with the drinks before she finished repairing the damage to her shoe. 'I hope it's cold enough. The bartender was hoarding ice cubes against the coming global shortage.'

To his relief, she laughed. 'That was a feeble joke, but thank you for trying.'


Overusing dialogue tags makes your prose seem florid and overwritten. It's like the "every verb with its adverb" problem -- the problem is neither the adverb nor the tag, it's poor writing. It's simpler to ban every use than it is to learn how to write crisp sentences and good dialogue with effective tags.

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