FAQ – The Dialogue Thing

What is The Dialogue Thing?

The Dialogue Thing is a free, AI‑free editing tool that helps you spot dialogue formatting issues, weird tags, and overused adverbs in your stories. It’s built for fanfiction writers, novelists, and anyone who wants cleaner dialogue without handing their work to an AI model.

Who is The Dialogue Thing for?

If you write people talking on a page, it’s for you. The tool works well for fanfiction chapters, original novels, web serials, and shorter stories where dialogue, character voice, and pacing matter.

What does the tool actually check?

Right now, the focus is on the places writers most often trip:

• Dialogue tags versus action beats.
• Commas, periods, question marks, and capitalization around quotes.
• Patterns like "Hello," she walked or "Hello." she said.
• Adverbs in dialogue and narration so you can trim or keep them.

The Dialogue Thing highlights the questionable bits and lets you decide what to fix and what to keep on purpose.

Does The Dialogue Thing use AI?

No. There’s no AI rewriting your voice in the background and no hidden model training on your fic. The tool simply runs pattern checks in your browser and surfaces potential issues so you stay fully in control of the edit.

Is my fanfiction or book text saved or tracked?

The goal is to be as low‑creepy as possible. Your text isn’t stored for model training, isn’t sold, and isn’t used to build writer profiles. You paste, edit, and leave. That’s it.

Is there a word limit?

There’s no strict word cap. Single chapters and shorter fics up to roughly twenty to thirty thousand words run comfortably. Extremely long documents may feel slower, so for full novels it’s usually easier to paste chapter by chapter.

Can I use it to edit a whole book or just fanfiction?

You can absolutely use it on both. The same dialogue rules apply to fanfiction, original novels, and everything in between. If your project has quotation marks and people arguing in them, the tool can help.

What’s the difference between a dialogue tag and an action beat?

A dialogue tag is the little verb that tells us who’s speaking, like said or asked. An action beat is what the character is doing while they talk.

Example tag: "I'm fine," she said.
Example beat: "I'm fine." She shoved the letter in her bag.

The Dialogue Thing helps you catch cases where an action verb sneaks into tag space, which is how you end up with lines like "Hello," she walked.

Will this fix all my grammar?

No. It’s not a full grammar checker and it won’t catch every typo or tense slip. Think of it as a focused helper for dialogue formatting and rhythm. You can pair it with a spellchecker or a human beta reader for a more complete edit.

Do I have to pay to use The Dialogue Thing?

No. The tool is free. There’s an optional Ko‑fi link if you want to tip, but there are no locked features and no subscription wall waiting for you after a few chapters.

How can I use The Dialogue Thing in my editing workflow?

1. Write your draft normally. Don’t stress about rules mid‑scene.
2. Paste a chapter into the editor.
3. Scan the highlights for dialogue tag issues, punctuation oddities, and adverbs.
4. Fix what improves clarity and voice; ignore what doesn’t fit your style.
5. Repeat for the next chapter.

The idea is to let the tool spot the boring stuff so you can focus on character voice, pacing, and emotional damage (the fun parts).

Does it work for every language?

The Dialogue Thing is built around English dialogue conventions: English quotation marks, commas, and capitalization rules. You’re welcome to experiment with other languages, but the feedback will make the most sense if you’re writing in English.

Where can I learn more about dialogue and editing?

The blog includes guides on editing fanfiction, dialogue rules for books and fanfic, and step‑by‑step walkthroughs for editing a book or novel. They use the same patterns the tool checks, but with concrete examples drawn from fic‑style scenes instead of textbook sentences.