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Question: The always controversial, "said"!?
I've been racking my brain on this and I need some feedback to see what most people believe:
I have it on the (I think) good authority of several authors that said is the much-preferred dialog tag due to its unobtrusive nature!. Using verbs other than said, and adverbs, is looked at by these authors as a sort of crutch for a crappy scene, a way amateur authors convey emotion and mood in an abstract, lazy way!.
Yet, I see all over the internet "teachers" saying the opposite!. "Said is boring" they say!. Well, in my opinion, it's supposed to be!. No smart reader is paying any attention to your dialog tags at all, they're breathing in the scene!. You should, in most instances, be able to hear the way the characters' voices sound in your head if the writing is any good!.
also, someone told me to use "asked" for questions, but a trusted source, John Dufresne, said "said" can even be used for questions!. I trusted this advice and attached myself to the reasoning that scene trumps anWww@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Said, asked, replied!. Once in a while, maybe stated!.
To the young lady whose teachers want her to use "giggled" - remind your teachers that TALKING is a separate action from GIGGLING or LAUGHING!.
"Look! I swiped my brother's phone," Stacy giggled!. !.!.!.!.!. Errrrr!.!.!.!. no, she didn't!. You would have to make that 2 separate sentences!.
"Look! I swiped my brother's phone!." Stacy giggled!. See the period instead of the comma after 'phone'!?
or
"Look! I swiped my brother's phone," Stacy said, then giggled!.
Your characters words can't be giggled, laughed, snorted, coughed, or anything else!. 'Said' may be boring, but it's the best!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I personally hate "said" because it doesn't help you understand what the character is thinking!. If you have, "Wow, that was amazing," Sarah said, you can't tell if it's sarcastic or heartfelt!. Saids are boring and they don't add anything to your dialogue, and when each word counts, it's not useful!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Said is the perfect word to say!. I always used to lazy way, then I was re-reading Harry Potter and noticed that J!.K!.Rowling only used 'Said,' and I never noticed it before!.!.!. and everything seems so real!. So now I'm sticking with using that more often, it's such a good word!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Moderation!. That's all I have to say!. "Said" is boring if the tag's been overused throughout the text--but then, I think it's stupid to go all-out and omit the word completely!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
i agree!. when i am reading a sentence, im reading the sentence in the characters voice!. im not paying any attention to the tags!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Honestly!? I have no idea whether or not I should use 'said' or something more 'colorful,' as all my teachers put it, like 'giggled,' or 'called!.'
I usually just use whatever I feel I should or what I feel fits best with the entire sentence!. If people don't like it, tough!. It's my writing so I believe I should be able to write it how ever I want!.
As for using 'said' instead of 'asked,' again, I don't know what to tell you!. I think that if you want to used 'asked' or 'questioned' or whatever, you should be able to/Www@QuestionHome@Com
Said can be a distraction, but to me it's MOST distracting when it's describing a question!. I prefer "asked" in that case!. (The most egregious usage is "that said" but that's another issue!.) In many cases, you can improve the scene with other descriptive verbs such as "snarled," "barked," "whined," or "groaned!." Just don't overuse any form of those or you'll wind up distracting the reader worse than by overusing "said!."Www@QuestionHome@Com
In my opinion, for my writing style: You are right--'said' is invisible!.
Occasionally I will throw in an 'asked' or 'replied,' but I won't get much more descriptive than that!. Demonstration #1:
"Oh, boy!" Jane enthused!. <-- You pay more attention to the verb, not to what Jane is saying, and that's counterproductive!.
"Oh, boy!" Jane said!. <-- You pay more attention to what Jane is saying!.
also, don't overuse adverbs--use them only when they're necessary!. Demonstration #2:
"Oh, boy!" Jane said happily!. <-- Well, we can tell that!. Adjective is not needed!.
"Oh, boy!" Jane said sarcastically!. <-- If you can't tell that from the rest of the scene, then it should be included here, since it's not obvious from the words that Jane is being sarcastic!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I'm a "said" writer, too!.
You should be able to infer tone from the actual passage, or the dialogue, or other context!.
If you have to smack your reader over the head and point out that it was said sarcastically or melodramatically, then you're not *showing* me the action, you're *telling* me!.
I don't mind adding the occasional "whispered" or some other word, but I'd say that 90% of the time, when I feel I have to attribute dialogue and I'm not already using an action tag, I use "said!."Www@QuestionHome@Com