Otherwise–as the article says–we have author intrusion into the story and telling rather than showing when we substitute words for “said.” I see nothing wrong with substituting the word “shouted” when the people are far apart from each other or in a noisy place. One of the first things a new writer hears about dialogue tags is how annoying it is when somebody finds a thesaurus and inserts a dozen synonyms into his/her story for “said” and “asked.” The result is often highly annoying except when it is done sparingly.įor humor, where was the ever-popular, “‘Ouch,’ he explained” approach and the campy Tom Swifty insertion of a punning adverb such as: “‘Let’s get married,’ Tom said engagingly.” Source: What Your Choice of Dialogue Tags Says About You | Jane Friedman If you use the word ranted to describe the speech act of one of your characters, you’re telling your readers how to understand what is happening rather than illustrating through action and dialogue. There are a number of reasons for this, but the most common works in conjunction with that other famous maxim: show, don’t tell. And adding an adverb to 'said' is just as bad.One way to look at it is to consider any movement away from the exclusive use of said or asked a step away from the very “best” writing, from the kind of writing intended to be considered “literary.” If you spend any small amount of time examining blogs or books on writing, you will find that this is a very common directive: use said, asked, and nothing else. Stephen Cannell explains that inexperience writers tend to put too many emotional keys under the character when writing dialogue for screenplays.Įlmore Leonard says, ".I don't see any reason for using any other verb after a line of dialogue other than 'said.' It's what the person's saying that's important, not what the writer thinks is a good word. Use the dialogue itself to show your characters moods and feelings rather than overusing dialogue tags.Īlex Keegan explains in his dialogue article that overusing said synonyms and adverbs can "approach parody." He also shares an example of dialogue that doesn't use said or said alternatives. Experts argue that if you start getting creative and constantly introduce new dialogue descriptors and said synonyms you will interrupt the rhythm and pacing of your story. Using said repeatedly won't bother the reader. The word "said" won't slow them down when they are reading. Readers know what "said" means and they quickly pass over it when reading your dialogue. : Said Synonyms Warnings Against Said Alternatives.Owlcation: 500 Alternative Word for Said.As previously stated, be sure to read the warnings below before adding lots of dialogue verbs and adverbs. The verbs listed on the right are more descriptive of action or emotion: bellowed, fumed, joked, mumbled, muttered, pleaded, screamed, shouted, whispered and yelled. They include announced, asked, claimed, declared, disclosed, remarked, replied, revealed, stated, suggested and told. The verbs on the left are more direct synonyms for said. Here is a chart with twenty synonyms, plus links to many more. Some have almost exactly the same meaning while others (like shout and whisper) also convey action. There are no bears in the woods." The reader will automatically know it was Bob that said this if it is part of ongoing dialogue between Bob and Kimberly. An easy way to do this by referencing another character's name. Remove Said: Don't use said or another verb at all.Use an Adverb: Bob said softly, "There are no bears in the woods." Or Bob said confidently, "There are no bears in the woods.".Use a Synonym: Bob replied, "There are no bears in the woods." or Bob remarked, "There are no bears in the woods." Other synonyms can change the meaning slightly, such as Bob joked, "There are no bears in the woods.".In these examples we will change the following the sentence: Bob said, "There are no bears in the woods." Here are three ways you can replace or modify said in a sentence. Using many said synonyms or alternatives can make your writing stilted and disrupt the flow. You should heed the warnings below from top writers and instructors that replacing said or using adverbs to describe said is usually a bad idea. Said is the most frequently used word to indicate that a person is speaking in writing. Said and its synonyms can also be described by adding an adverb. There are many synonyms for the word said.
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