Dialogue Tags

One of the things I noticed that I delete a lot during the revision stage is dialogue tags. Usually the reader already knows who's talking, so in that instance you don't need dialogue tags. Since the reader already knows that he's talking, you don't need to put he said in there. Or she said, or whatever.

It does make the conversation flow more smoothly, and it also eliminates the effort of having to think of which dialogue tag to use. Meaning you don't have to choose he said, or he snarled, or he growled, or he commented, or he cried. But if the story needs the reader to know that he growled something instead of just saying it normal like, then you might want to specify that at that point.

But sometimes you don't even need to do that. Sometimes, just the mood of the conversation will be enough for the reader to automatically read it the way you want it to be read. Still, there are times when dialogue tags are necessary. I've found that in my first draft, I use them more than I need to, and in the revision stage, I find myself deleting them. Yeah, I leave a lot of them in, too, but, I would guess that I delete about 30 - 40 percent of them at various places in the manuscript.

Just some interesting side notes, that's all.