Hunger Games Dialog Tags

One thing I forgot to mention about The Hunger Games: The dialog tags. It’s funny the things you notice when you’re an aspiring writer. Suzanne Collins uses the “X said” model when Katniss says something, but uses the “said X” model when other people speak. Like this:

“I’m leaving,” I say.

“You can’t,” says John.

But then, if she uses a pronoun, she goes back to the “X said” model. (Obviously, because “says he” would be dumb.)

“John, I’m leaving,” I say.

“You can’t,” he says.

And just to make it interesting, she occasionally switches it up and does this:

“I’m going,” I say.

“You can’t,” John says.

Maybe the “said X” model is a young adult thing. I’m listening to Partials by Dan Wells (which is another dystopian young adult science fiction-ish book, coincidentally, *wink* *nudge*), and all of his dialog tags are “said X,” too.

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• On The Hunger Games