Yes, you can. You'll probably provoke laughter, but you can. My experience is that while you can use the words in this list, you should use them sparingly because unlike "said", they draw the...
Yes, you can. You'll probably provoke laughter, but you can.
My experience is that while you can use the words in this list, you should use them sparingly because unlike "said", they draw the reader's attention and remind them that they're reading prose. "Said" is almost invisible to readers, but if you find yourself overusing it you can replace it with an action beat.
Instead of doing this:
"OK, Wyatt," said Ike Clanton, "We're gonna fuck you now, but we're gonna fuck you slow."
You do this:
"OK, Wyatt." There was a jangle as Ike Clanton unbuckled his belt and dropped his pants. "We're gonna fuck you now, but we're gonna fuck you slow."
In the second example, you still identify the speaker, but show them doing something as they speak.
I agree so strongly with this! I find a lot of authors inject way too many non-said words into their stories, and it's distracting. "Said" should be the majority of your dialogue verbs. Anything...
I agree so strongly with this! I find a lot of authors inject way too many non-said words into their stories, and it's distracting. "Said" should be the majority of your dialogue verbs. Anything else should add to your story purposefully.
Just that in general dialogue, "said" is going to be the better verb to use, if you use one at all. Other verbs should be used to covey something, like an emotion. For example: is read differently...
Just that in general dialogue, "said" is going to be the better verb to use, if you use one at all. Other verbs should be used to covey something, like an emotion. For example:
"It's red," she chirped.
"Looks orange to me," he smirked.
"Definitely red," she countered.
"No, that's more orange than apple," he insisted.
is read differently from:
"It's red."
"Looks orange to me," he said.
"Definitely red."
"No, that's more orange than apple," he insisted.
One way is not necessarily right or wrong, it just depends on the writer's goal. But often times, I find writers are almost afraid of repeating "said" too many times, so they just break out the thesaurus, but "said" is really easy to ignore as a reader, where other words are not.
I've just read Wuthering Heights and I've learned you can also say "ejaculated".
Yes, you can. You'll probably provoke laughter, but you can.
My experience is that while you can use the words in this list, you should use them sparingly because unlike "said", they draw the reader's attention and remind them that they're reading prose. "Said" is almost invisible to readers, but if you find yourself overusing it you can replace it with an action beat.
Instead of doing this:
You do this:
In the second example, you still identify the speaker, but show them doing something as they speak.
I agree so strongly with this! I find a lot of authors inject way too many non-said words into their stories, and it's distracting. "Said" should be the majority of your dialogue verbs. Anything else should add to your story purposefully.
Edit to add: still, this is a pretty good list.
What do you mean?
Just that in general dialogue, "said" is going to be the better verb to use, if you use one at all. Other verbs should be used to covey something, like an emotion. For example:
is read differently from:
One way is not necessarily right or wrong, it just depends on the writer's goal. But often times, I find writers are almost afraid of repeating "said" too many times, so they just break out the thesaurus, but "said" is really easy to ignore as a reader, where other words are not.
Good post. I often find myself stuck with words that are the easy go-to words.