A speaker tag is a phrase that identifies the speaker of a line of dialogue. It is a way to indicate which character is speaking and can be used before, after, or in the middle of dialogue. The most basic form of a speaker tag consists of the speakers name and a speech-related verb, such as "said," "asked," or "shouted". Speaker tags should be used judiciously and not at the end of every line of dialogue, especially if there are only two speakers. If there are more than two speakers, it is recommended to vary speaker tags with action beats.

Action beats are actions that accompany what the speaker is saying and indicate who is doing the speaking. They offer more opportunities for characterization than speaker tags and can be used instead of speaker tags when in doubt. It is not recommended to combine action beats with speaker tags, as they can be repetitious.

When using speaker tags, it is important to punctuate them correctly. If the tag comes before the dialogue, it should be followed by a comma and the dialogue should begin with a capital letter. If the tag comes after the dialogue, it should be preceded by a comma and the tag should begin with a lowercase letter unless it begins with a proper noun. If the tag is in the middle of the dialogue, it should be surrounded by commas.

In summary, a speaker tag is a phrase that identifies the speaker of a line of dialogue. It is a useful tool for indicating which character is speaking, but should be used judiciously and not at the end of every line of dialogue. Action beats can be used instead of speaker tags when in doubt. It is important to punctuate speaker tags correctly depending on where they appear in the dialogue.