I thought these might be helpful to those who are always looking for words to use instead of 'said', 'asked', 'replied', etc. They certainly help me! A accused acknowledged acquiesced acquired added addressed admitted admonished advised advocated affirmed agreed alleged allowed alluded announced answered apologized appeased applauded approved argued articulated asked assented asserted assisted assured assured attributed awed B babbled baited bantered barked bawled beamed began begged belched believed bellowed beseeched besought bleated blubbered boasted boomed bowed bragged breathed broke in butted-in C cackled cajoled calculated calculated called cannonaded caroled cautioned cautioned challenged championed changed charged chatted cheered chided chipped in choked chortled chorused chuckled churned cited claimed clamored coaxed comforted commented complained complained complemented conceded concluded concurred confessed confirmed consented consoled contended contested continued contributed cooed corrected coughed countered cried criticized croaked crooned cross-examined cursed cussed D debated decided declared declined defended demanded denied described determined dictated discussed dismissed drawled dribbled droned E eased echoed edited effervesced egged ejaculated elaborated emphasized encouraged ended enthused enticed entreated enumerated enunciated exaggerated exclaimed excused exhorted explained exploded expostulated extolled F faltered feared fidgeted finished frowned fumbled fumed G gagged gasped gibbered giggled gleamed gloated glowered goaded greeted grinned groaned ground out growled grumbled grunted guessed guffawed gulped gurgled gushed H hailed hastened hesitated hinted hissed hollered hooted hoped horned in howled humored I imitated implied implored indicated informed inquired inquired insinuated insisted instructed interjected interposed interpreted interrupted intimidated intoned jabbered jeered jested joked L lambasted lamented laughed lectured lied lisped listed lumbered M made known maintained maligned marveled mentioned mimicked moaned mocked motioned mourned mumbled mumbled murmured mused muttered N nagged nodded noted noticed O objected observed offered ordered oscillated P panicked panted pardoned perceived persisted persuaded pestered piped up piped up pleaded pointed pondered postulated pouted praised preached predicted pressed prevaricated proceeded proclaimed prodded profaned professed proffered promised prompted prophesied proposed purred pursued put in puzzled Q quavered queried questioned quibbled quipped quoted R railed rambled ranted raved recalled recited recommended regretted reiterated rejoined released relented remained remembered reminded remonstrated renounced repeated replied reported reprehended reprimanded requested rescinded resolved responded resumed retorted returned revealed roared rumbled S sang sang out scoffed scolded scorned screamed screeched sermonized shifted shouted shrieked shrilled shrugged shuddered shuffled sighed sizzled slurped slurred smarted smiled smirked smoldered snapped snarled sneered snickered sniffed snorted sobbed soliloquized soothed specified spelled spluttered spoke spurted sputtered squawked squealed stammered stared stated stormed stressed struggled stuttered submitted suggested summarized surmised swayed swore sympathized T tantalized tattled taunted teased testified thought threatened tittered told tutted U urged ushered uttered V vacillated vaunted ventured voiced volunteered W wailed warned waved wavered whined whispered wittered wondered wore on worried Y yearned yelled yelped yowled
Very bad idea. Writers should stick primarily with said or asked. "Variety verbs" in dialogue tags mark you as an amateur. Dialogue tags serve to identify who said what. Other than that, they should be virtually invisible. Sticking to said and asked helps accomplish that.
Yes, adverbs of manner can help your semi-invisible dialogue tags to get the effect you want, I'd say other dialogue tags shouldn't be used if it can be avoided, but if not, then go ahead; after all this won't be the case most of the time.
I agree. In my view the only time you should use something other than "said" or "asked" is when you want your reader to notice that something has been said in a certain way. Even then this should be limited to a few different tags. I would say probably only "shouted" or "yelled" and "whispered" - there might be a couple of others too but that is about all that I think I use.
I used to go to great lengths to describe the way someone had said something. Like: "They -" he said, his voice brought to a low bass rumbling in the chest of her, "think we're like little, clay, molds." But these day's as the others have pointed out, it's really only acceptable to use said. You'll have to paint the picture with your complete narrative. Though, sometimes I do lapse back and put in one or two of those sentences. Maybe that's like wasabi in your salad though.
I really get annoyed with a text that repeats any word too many times and 'said' is one of those most repeated. I can see why you would suggest the list and 'thank you for that!' ... I often imply that its was said by either describing the voice, or the feeling, or the thought etc. You already have the "" so it tells the reader that someone said something, i.e. its just the case of making sure the reader knows who said it and there are more ways then 'bob said...' 'Igor said...' 'Nelly said...' 'Barbara said...' 'Frank said...' said said said
I go through my text with a tooth comb to make sure I don't use the same word too often. But "said" is the exception. It's a word that is invisible to the reader, it doesn't draw attention to itself, so you can use it as often as necessary. Every time I read something littered with "responded", "conceded", "denied", "queried" etc, it jerks me out of the story.
Nobody worries about overusing a/an or the. They are fundamental to language and disappear to the reader. Although you can find alternatives to said and asked, they don't serve exactly the same purpose, and don't fade from notice in the way that said and asked do. Word repetition is a problem in writing, but there are exceptions. The verbs in dialogue tags are one of those exceptions.
Nothing wrong with using words such as "replied" if it is of meaning to the story. "Did you do your homework?" "Yes" I replied slowly. This is of meaning to the story because it makes you wonder if the " I " actually did do his homework or if he was lying. and when you don't actually use litteral dialogue in your story it can be usefull aswell. "Did you break that vase?" He quickly denied before he slipped out of the livingroom. I always find it hard to reach the right balance when there is a long dialogue, if it goes on quite long you forget who is who, but putting "-said Alice" or "said John" behind every scentence is ofcourse stupid. Any advice on this? Or should you cut up the dialoge? I usually put other scentences around the talking parts to show who is talking like: "I don't get why you're making such a big deal out of this!" John said. Alice turned away to hide her upcoming tears. "Because you never do anything for me." "What are you talking about?" John walked towards her. "Is this because the neighbour bought his wife those flowers?" "It's because a lot of things." He could tell by her sobbing voice the tears were already running down her cheeks. the "John walked towards her" is making clear it's him who is talking and at the same time functional for showing he cares.
As a continuation to that, there are techniques that you can use to punctuate dialogue or build up tension (before a punchline for example), neither of which are as verbose as relying on the original list. That's not to say that you should never use verbs but they are much better for describing a characters actions (as metaphor) than replacing 'said' or 'asked'. Ejaculated, what a great word that is. Doesn't that say a lot about a character if his speech ejaculates? Well, yes it does but the sentence: "He ejaculated" Seams somewhat trite and doesn't really serve to define the character in the same way that the following could: "He said, his nervous words ejaculating from his mouth"
or you could just, you know, not use dialogue tags.... I try to avoid them. I find that they clutter the story and often seriously diminish the impact of the dialogue itself. If a story is well written, it should almost always be obvious which character is speaking and what tone he or she is using.
Absolutely. Still, some conversations do require more tags than others. For example, a conversation with more than two participants -- the reader can no longer count on simple alternation to keep track. But dialogue tags are not the only available tool. Context can help. Once a multi-way conversation is rolling, you can often tell which character is speaking bu the phrasing, or the content. Also, you can use beats, brief actions interspersed in the dialogue, to indicate who is speaking and how it relates to what is taking place in the scene.
I suppose, like most things in writing, it is a tool. Over-reliance on any tool is a bad thing but used in the right place it can be effective.
Just remember that tags do not equal beats. Sometimes they're combined--"That sounds good," he said while clearing the table--but only sometimes, and even then you want to avoid substituting beats where you wanted a tag. ("Sounds good," he cleared the table.) Using tags other than "said" and "asked" more than a few times in any given story is going to peg you as an amateur and land your manuscript in the reject pile. Think of more creative ways to weave whatever it is you're trying to show, not tell, into the scene.
In this case, you'd need to replace the comma with a full stop, and capitalise the H of he, since it isn't a dialogue tag, and so is a seperate sentence.
Like with anything, moderation in usage is best. I, too, get annoyed when I am writing and try to vary things up a bit so I think this list was really helpful and it can add value when you are trying to direct a reader to understand the meaning of your dialogue better. Thanks
some of those tags bring up some hilarious images. I'm going to store away 'belched', 'cooed', and 'dribbled' for future use. 'bleated' would be fantastic for when my main char is in disguise as a lamb.... Joking aside, one or two of those other than 'said' have their place. Just use them sparingly and I would say NEVER use the ridiculously OTT ones like those above ! One thing I hate, and I've seen it a lot from one writer, is '"blah blah blah ?" I made it a question.' Argh ! Surely the question mark tells me it's a question ? And people hissing sentences that don't have the letter 's' in them. Really, really annoying.
Jenny, I'd just like to say: thanks for posting this! I know people aren't too enthousiastic about it, but it's a good thing you like to help, so please don't get discouraged to post something next time! Happy writing and don't forget to have fun! ~ Lola
I like this example I agree... Plus: "That sounds good" - was he supportive or just trying to get the conversation over with? How did the other person respond to this? Or feel about this? So saying something about the emotion behind the words (also helps the reader get the ral meaning and emotion), rather then going for just his actions may help. You can add what he was doing later on.
I agree. Even though not in the way you have intended, Jenny, this post is helping people to learn. So, keep posting.
I'm not even sure how to pronounce "effervesced," and English pronunciation is one of the few things I'm really good at. If you really want to use another word in place of said/asked, make it a simple one. I would not find it acceptable if someone ejaculated while speaking to me, and I seriously doubt that "acquire" is commonly used to refer to dialogue. Actually, quite a few items on that list are used to describe a spoken line maybe once every blue moon (unless you're shelling an entrenched enemy or something, I would not typically recommend using "cannonade" as a verb, and even then, I would say "shell/bombard" instead). Aside from said and asked, the only tags I use with any frequency are "replied" and "added." Even those don't see much use. There are just so many better ways to put it. Less obtrusive ways.
