Creating Tone through Dialogue

Love the suggestions!! replacing “said” is definitely a pain in the rear, I always struggle to come up with enough variety in replacements so this post is an awesome help for me!! thank you!

Terrific list! I have long kept a list of speaking verbs that I often refer to when writing. I’ll definitely be adding some of yours.

There are several schools of thought on this. Many writers believe it’s best to eliminate “he said, she said” from your dialogue entirely. This would eliminate the need for replacing “said” and keep the reader in the dialogue. I agree that if you set up the scene right, and block character activity and non-verbal interaction well then “said” is often unnecessary.

I don’t feel comfortable eliminating said entirely. In some scenes I cut the tag and the dialogue feels wrong. That being said (I couldn’t resist), I’m perfectly comfortable using “said” and not trying to find a replacement. Especially when using adverb linked verbs (chuckled, joked, cried, gasped) that often become shortcuts for description and action that convey the speaker’s state better (and more dramatically).

The third school would argue American language, and readers, follow Anglo-Saxon roots and shorter words, “argued,” “pissed,” “said” read better than longer Latinate words like “advocated, urinated, commented.” I am very much from that school and encourage young writers to avoid longer, polysyllabic words—especially because, in many cases, the Latinate word has a specific connotation inappropriate to the current sentence. E.g., “Holy shit, there’s a bear in my house,” Sally recited, or “If you don’t choose the correct word, not only might you confuse your reader, I will mark your papers down,” Professor Lawrence jabbered.

That being the case, this is a handy list for young writers to have available, and if they find themselves in the situation where a substitute for “said” is needed, this will save a lot of time. I appreciate the effort you put into sharing.