You know that moment. Your character has just spoken, and it\u2019s time to add that little identifier after the dialog line.<\/p>\n
But “he said” or “she said” is so\u00a0boring<\/em>.<\/p>\n Why not have your character intone? Articulate? Mutter, gasp, croak, chant, mumble, growl, snap, snarl? So many interesting verbs are waiting for your use. What\u2019s wrong with them?<\/p>\n Say hello to “saidisms,” the countless\u00a0words that can replace “said” in your narrative.<\/p>\n They\u00a0used to be very popular. How popular? Beginning writers were often given a cheat sheet of “said” synonyms and urged to refer to it\u00a0whenever their characters opened their mouths. The word\u00a0“said”\u00a0used to reflect poorly on your vocabulary.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s all changed, and saidisms have fallen from grace.<\/p>\n Nowadays, “said” is all the rage again. True, it\u2019s boring. But it\u2019s also almost invisible for the reader. The reader\u2019s mind barely pauses on it, whereas words like “enunciated” or “declaimed” make it go, whoa! What was that? After a while, excessive use of saidisms stands out so much it becomes a farce.<\/p>\n In other words, “said” is small, unobtrusive, and does the work just fine. Whenever you need your character to say something, consider “said” as a strong candidate.<\/p>\n “Snarled” may seem\u00a0richer than “said,” because it adds emotion to the action. But\u00a0if a character constantly snarls, the reader would suggest taking it to the vet. How to keep that dimension of emotion, if we\u2019re to use the plain old “said”?<\/p>\n The answer lies\u00a0in the dialog itself.<\/p>\n Consider the following:<\/p>\n “I don\u2019t want to see you again,” he snarled.<\/p>\n “Get out of my sight!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The snarl adds value to the first sentence because the dialog itself\u00a0is\u00a0pale and ambivalent. It could be said in\u00a0various intonations with various nuances.<\/p>\n The second sentence stands on its own. It doesn\u2019t even need a “said,” let alone a “snarled.” The emotion is all there in the phrasing.<\/p>\n Another way to work around saidisms is by using action to attribute speech. It looks like this:<\/p>\n “I\u2019m the one speaking,” he said.<\/p>\n His friend clapped him on the shoulder. “Now I\u2019m the one speaking. And I didn\u2019t even need a ‘said’ to make it happen.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n By twining action and dialog, it\u2019s obvious who\u2019s speaking even if you don\u2019t name him explicitly. \u00a0It\u2019s a powerful tool, because action conveys emotion and state of mind better than any saidism.<\/p>\n Look at the following:<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Lucy stammered fearfully. \u201cMaybe it was.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI–I don\u2019t know.\u201d Lucy clenched her trembling fingers. \u201cMaybe it was.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Both sentences convey her discomfort. Which gave you a\u00a0clearer, richer image?<\/p>\n Whenever you can, let the dialog do the work for you, or use a combination of dialog and action. Need a “said” word? Use “said” itself ninety-nine percent of the time. Your readers will thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","categories":[10,11],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/737"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A Passing Fad<\/h2>\n
Back to the Source<\/h2>\n
Let The Dialog\u00a0Carry Your Meaning<\/h2>\n
Let Action Indicate Your Tone<\/h2>\n
Summing It Up<\/h2>\n