Question

Are speaker tags required everytime when speaker changes?

Answer 1

Speaker tags are words (reporting verbs) that are used to write the direct speech of a speaker. Words such as ‘say’, ‘call’, ‘aske’, ‘enquire’, ‘acknowledge’, beg’, ‘deny’, and many more are called speaker tags. Speaker tags are the soul of catchy, appealing, and engrossing dialogue; they must be used relevantly and appropriately.

The best advice concerning their use is they should be used when needed. Speaker tags need not be used every time the character says something. Speaker tags should be used occasionally when two characters are conversing. Using narrative tags is good. Speaker tag and narrative tag should not be used together.

For example the use of speaker tags in the flowing sentence is wrong:

Meera gestured Shyam; “Come here,” she said.

However, the use of speaker tag in the following sentence is right:

Meera gestured Shyam, “Come here.”

So the conclusion is we should use speaker tags only when needed.