Unpopular take: I used to hate using dialogue tags but now I see their point

I spent 6 months writing a short story with zero dialogue tags because I thought they were lazy and broke immersion. Then an editor gave me feedback saying my action beats alone made a 3-way conversation impossible to follow. Has anyone else changed their mind on a writing rule after a specific critique?

2 comments

2 Comments

iris_jones893d ago

Nah, action beats work fine if you actually set the scene properly first.

ray3243d ago

Nah but here's the thing nobody talks about, @iris_jones89 - action beats can actually trick you into forgetting the reader's POV entirely. Like if you write "she slammed the door and paced the room" but you never once mention what she's thinking or feeling in that moment, it's just choreography on a blank stage. The beat has to push the scene forward by showing character, not just movement. I've seen people write five beats in a row that all say the same thing "he was mad" without any deeper layer. That's when it gets stale.