Grade 3 · Writing · Lesson 18

Add Dialogue and Emotions to Characters

When a character speaks in a story, you get a window straight into their world — but only if the dialogue feels real. The secret is not just what they say, but how they say it and what they are doing when they say it. That is the difference between flat dialogue and vivid dialogue.

What this lesson teaches

1Write dialogue correctly using quotation marks and a dialogue tag
2Place the comma inside the closing quotation mark when a dialogue tag follows
3Upgrade flat dialogue by adding an emotion adverb or a stronger dialogue verb
4Write an action beat that shows a character's emotion through physical behavior

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