Dialogue punctuation

Remember that you can say a line of dialogue, but you can’t chuckle, walk, laugh, look, or caress a line of dialogue. You can only speak it.

For example:

“You look wonderful,” he caressed her shoulder. (wrong)

“You look wonderful.” He caressed her shoulder. (right)

Note the period instead of the comma after “wonderful” and the capitalized H in He in the correct version.

“You look wonderful,” he chuckled. (wrong)
“You look wonderful.” He chuckled. (right)

You cannot chuckle and speak at the same time.

However, you can:

“You look wonderful,” he said. (right)
“You look wonderful,” he moaned. (right)
“You look wonderful,” he wheezed. (right)
“You look wonderful,” he spat. (right)

“You look wonderful,” he walked across the room to her. (wrong)
“You look wonderful,” he said as he walked across the room to her. (right)
“You look wonderful.” He walked across the room to her. (right)

You cannot “walk” a line of dialogue.

“You look wonderful,” he looked in her eyes. (wrong)
“You look wonderful,” he said as he looked in her eyes. (right)
“You look wonderful.” He looked in her eyes. (right)
His eyes said, “You look wonderful,” while his mouth said, “You’re ugly.” (right)
He gave her a look that told her she looked wonderful. (right)

You cannot “look” a line of dialogue, although you can “look” to convey an idea or emotion.