Lord Raiden

Hey everyone. Just thought I'd share this with you. It's the first part of a 20 something chapter novel I'm releasing to the web for free under the creative commons license. That means you're free to share or build upon it. I'm doing this because I think the story is worth sharing, and it's so far down my "to be published" list that it'll be 10 years or more before it sees the light of day. So I just went ahead and released it for free on the web. I'm only doing a chapter a week, as that's the model I've seen others do as well who've done this. I'll also be releasing a PDF and an audio book version of each chapter as I release them.

I'd love to get everyone's feedback on this. You can read the latest chapters here as I post them anytime you want. They'll be listed on the right side under the Lost Races series listing in the Book Series module. Part of my reason for releasing this for free is because I think that it's a good enough story that it should be shared with others, and because I don't want to have to wait 10 years before it ever gets to be published (that assumes of course that I get picked up by a publisher sometime soon). I also hope to get noticed by either some agents or publishers who might be interested in some of my other novels.

Now, without further adieu, here's the prolog and chapter 1 of "The Specimen". PS, yes, this is the fully expounded novel created from my original short story by the same name. It's also the first book in the Lost Races series mentioned above.

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Prolog

Miguiga lay quietly on the beach near his village and looked up at the clouds floating high overhead. It had been unusually cool that day and the wind was blowing surprisingly hard for mid summer. The other villagers had said that no storms were coming, and while the skies seemed to agree with them, the winds told a different story. He turned to the side and watched casually as several men worked furiously to secure the last of the large fishing boats on the shore to protect them from the growing waves that were pounding at the beach. He felt the warm water lap up around his feet and push sand up his pant legs, and then retreat quickly leaving several surprised crabs and a pile of sand stranded within and around his feet. The men soon finished and then quickly retreated into the village away from the shore. The waves continued to pound the beach, each one growing gradually stronger than the last. Another wave crashed onto the beach and quickly raced past his knees, retreated, and then attacked again, this time reaching up nearly to his arms.

Miguiga sat up in alarm just as another wave crashed down in front of him and marched far up the beach past him. He stood up quickly and retreated several paces as another wave raced in, surrounding him with water past his knees. It pulled his legs out from under him as it retreated. He immediately leapt to his feet again and began running away as a much larger wave crashed on the beach and charged hard and fast for the village.

Miguiga ran with all his strength as he raced between the huts of his village shouting, "The sea is attacking! The sea is attacking!"

Another much larger wave crashed ashore behind him and crushed several small huts that sat near the beach. Miguiga turned around in horror to see who had been hurt, and then realized that nobody was there. He looked around in panic, and then darted inside a nearby hut. It was empty. Completely empty.

There was no signs of clothing, or pots, or people, or anything! He felt the hut sway briefly, and then heave to the side as water sliced through the foundation like a knife. A large wall of water exploded in through the sides and tossed Miguiga around like a ragdoll. Another wall of water rushed into the hut and ripped it apart, ejecting him out a window and high into the air where he landed on top of a nearby palm tree. He quickly gathered his senses and looked for a way to get to higher ground. But before he could move, water swirled up from below him like a maelstrom and tossed him high into the air again. He splashed down in the water with a thud and was quickly pulled under. When he finally surfaced he found the seas strangely calm and the wind absent. He frantically searched in all directions from horizon to horizon, but saw no land, no boats, nor even a sign of his native island.

He treaded water for several moments, carefully contemplating what had just happened, trying desperately in his mind to make sense of it.

"Is this a dream?" he thought to himself. "No, it can't be. It feels too real."

Just then his ears heard a soft, humming sound. He looked up and was shocked to see a large, black, featureless cube hanging motionless in the sky just above him.

"What in the�" began Miguiga.

Suddenly the water below him turned into a giant whirlpool, sucking him under in seconds. He struggled intently for several moments to reach the surface, and then lost consciousness as the oxygen in his lungs ran out.

His mind swam with questions and voices as he floated in a thick blackness, punctuated with brief bursts of brilliant blue and yellow lights. He felt completely detached from his body, devoid of feelings, emotion, or sense of time. He seemed to float, suspended in the blackness, weightless and without form. And yet there was a calming warmth that seemed to surround him and fill his mind with a strange sense of peace.

"Miguiga," echoed a faint and distant voice. "Miguiga!" came the voice again, closer now, and more insistent.

Suddenly he felt a sharp repeated pain in his side. He sat bolt upright and put his hand down to his side, intercepting a small, bare foot that kicked hard at his ribcage.

"Miguiga!! Dad wants you! He needs help putting the boat away. Now stop sleeping and go help!"

Miguiga turned towards his little sister in surprise, then out towards the water, and finally up at the sky.

"Get moving or dad will punish you again!" she said, even more insistently.

"Did you see�a strange, black cube somewhere?" he asked, stuttering slightly in confused curiosity.

"You were dreaming again. Now move it! Dad needs you, now!"

Miguiga shook his head, stood to his feet, and smiled at his sister.

"Thanks squirt. You make a great dream monster," he said, playfully rubbing her head as he passed.

She screamed in frustration and turned to kick him as he ran away laughing.

"Miguiga! Come back here! That's not funny!" she said racing after him.

As the two children ran playfully down the beach, a large, black cube sat just above the water near the horizon and watched the village as it went about its daily activities.

"Did the reprogramming work?" asked a reptilian like man in a tall, wide backed chair that sat perched in the middle of a small command bridge.

A technician to his right shook his head.

"I don't know, controller. Only time will tell. But I don't foresee any problems. All the subjects so far have shown no signs of any lingering memories of their past. They should adapt well to their new homes."

The controller grunted and nodded, and then pressed a small button on a console in front of him. A square of light appeared over the console that was covered in rows of hieroglyphic like writing that looked like a series of well structured scratch marks. He pressed a corner of the square and it changed to a picture of Miguiga's face, below which was more of the same scratch like hieroglyphic letters.

"I trust your judgment on the other specimens, but this one concerns me. He was somehow missed in the initial specimen sweep of the island and was captured late. I fear that he saw too much when the island sank and may remember some of that at a later time, breaking the programming."

"If that happens, we can just reprogram him," said the technician flatly.

"No. Initial tests show that it would destroy his mind and possibly kill him if we did. They are fragile creatures and I do not want to risk damaging them."

"But if he�"

"I'm willing to take that risk. Besides, if that happens, the subsequent results should be interesting."

The technician nodded.

"As you wish. Should we now deploy our agents within their ranks to begin first hand studying of these specimens?"

The controller laughed heartily, and looking at the technician said, "You sound like we're infiltrating a rebel faction or some militant cult."

"But they are specimens and they are here to be studied," said the technician.

"Yes, true, but they're so much more than just specimens, are they not?" said the controller exuberantly.

"Yes, they are. But they're still specimens," said the technician.

The controller sighed.

"Ultimately, yes. But even so, it should be quite fascinating to see how this experiment proceeds. Creatures of such high resourcefulness and sentience are rare in the galaxy. We should learn all that we can about them."

The controller studied the image of Miguiga's face on the cube again and said, "This one especially."

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Lord Raiden

Chapter 1

Keil sat on the end of a long boat dock near his village and studied the bright, starlit sky above as two meteors streaked by overhead.

"Hey, Yabos. Have you ever wondered if there's anything beyond this island?" he asked.

A young man wearing nothing more than a worn pair of swimming trunks plopped down next to him and handed him a glass of juice.

"Of course. There's all the other islands that we trade with," said Yabos.

"No, not them. I mean beyond the islands."

Yabos stared at Keil in bewilderment, his face only slightly visible in the darkness that surrounded them.

"There's only miles and miles of empty sea, and then the edge of the world beyond that," he replied.

"But there has to be more! Look at all the amazing stars in the sky! If the sky is limitless, shouldn't the sea be also?" said Keil.

Yabos shrugged. "I don't see why not. But why bother looking?"

"Because I want to see other lands, more people, bigger fish!"

"Again, why bother? You've got everything you need here," said Yabos.

Keil kicked his feet playfully, his toes tapping the water gently as waves rippled by underneath them.

"Well, I want to go out and at least try. I want to see the land beyond the end of the world. I want to see what's there."

Yabos shrugged. "Fine with me. But I'm not going."

Keil turned and looked at Yabos in surprise.

"Why not? This would be the adventure of a lifetime!"

"I don't want to get eaten by the great black fish that live out there."

Keil grinned, and then looked towards the horizon as the first of the twin moons were beginning to appear.

"Yeah, that does present a slight problem, doesn't it? But it's nothing we can't overcome."

"How?" asked Yabos bluntly.

Keil shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm sure we'll think of something."

"We? There you go including me again. What makes you think I want to be part of your crazy scheme? I kinda wanna grow old, ya'know."

"Keil! Time for bed!" came a shout from behind them.

Keil turned and saw his mother waving to him from the end of the dock.

"Coming mother!" he shouted, springing to his feet and running several paces before stopping. He turned back to Yabos and with a smile said, "Well, I'm sorry you don't want to come, but I've decided that I'm going anyways. There's something out there I want to find."

Yabos turned towards him curiously and asked, "Like what?"

Keil smiled. "You'll see."

Keil rose bright and early the next morning and hurried across the island to the far side. There was only one thing on his mind. Find Teben's machine shop. Keil knew that if he wanted to learn all there was about boat making, he'd need to talk to Teben. This was, at least in Keil's mind, because Teben knew more about boats than anyone else in the entire hundred isles. When Keil arrived, he found Teben working on a boat motor for a local fisherman. Keil asked Teben to teach him all he knew about boats. Teben agreed and began sharing with Keil a small portion of the boundless knowledge he possessed. Keil hung on Teben's every word. He scribbled pages upon pages of detailed notes, trying desperately to get as much as he could in writing for later. He already knew a lot about boats having grown up as the son of a fisherman. Yet the information that Teben shared with him seemed as fresh and new as the first day of spring. Even things he already knew. And that was saying a lot, especially for Keil.

At age three, Keil began going out to see with his dad to fish nearly every chance he got. By age nine, he had already become a highly skilled navigator and a sailor. Normally he spent every waking moment either out on the sea searching for fish with his family, or back in the docks mending nets and preparing for the next voyage. But this was the time of the great exodus, when all fish migrated to deeper waters to mate and raise their young. On these long fishing trips, only the most senior fishermen ventured out. Younger fishermen like himself were not allowed to join the hunt, as the sea grew more dangerous the farther they ventured out. There were many rumors, some new, some ancient, about gigantic black fish that would sweep in from out of nowhere and consume entire ships and their crews in one, breathtaking moment if they ventured too far out to sea. Because of this restriction, this time of the year was anticlimactic for him. But he didn't mind the time away from the fishing fleet. It gave him a chance to learn, to explore, and to travel to many of the other islands freely, something he wouldn't be able to do during the rest of the fishing season.

This was also Keil's invention time. A time when he would research, create, and invent new things all varieties. And he created a lot of things. While never having been given a formal education, Keil was no dummy. He was a self taught genius who knew and understood things adults twice his age couldn't even begin to comprehend, including things about astronomy, geology and more. He was also well versed in the ins and outs of most every boat in the hundred isles. The only skill he lacked was knowing how to build one. While the demand for boats was great in the isles, only a few small groups were allowed to actually build them, and they guarded their secrets as though they were a national treasure. Everyone that is, except Teben. While he wouldn't volunteer his knowledge to just anyone, he had no problem sharing it with people he knew. And his knowledge was formidable. Even though he was old, he was a well seasoned builder of many types of ships, both large and small, all of which were sturdy and dependable.

This is why Keil had come to talk to him today. He knew Teben would tell him all he needed to know about building a boat. Finally, after several hours of relentless questioning, Keil thanked Teben for everything he had shared, and hurried off towards his village again. He would spend the rest of the day organizing and studying his notes, getting himself as familiar as possible with everything necessary to design and build a ship. A ship that would take him beyond the end of the world. But as he ran, his ears began ringing with a strange, yet familiar sound that wandered in on the breeze. He paused and listened carefully as the wind blew softly through the trees around him. The sound slowly grew louder, and seemed to have a rhythm to it. Eventually his mind latched onto what he was hearing. A broad smile filled his face as he turned and raced back towards Teben's boat shop. A flier was coming, and he had a pretty good idea who was its pilot.

It was rare to see a flier this far out in the hundred isles. Part of this was due to Keil's home island being the most eastern island in the hundred isles, and part because most of the villagers were either fisherman, or somehow involved in or connected to the fishing trade. Hardly anyone on the island did anything that would require the special services of a flier. Yet one was coming. Keil was curious what package they were carrying and who it was for. For it to be sent by flier meant that it was either urgent, or important. If it wasn't either, it would have normally been sent by ship. Sometimes even urgent things were sent by ship if no fliers would agree to take it. If a flier wouldn't take a cargo, regardless of the fee offered to them, a shipper typically was forced to send it by swift boat instead. This was because operating a flier was expensive, and sometimes it was dangerous, depending on where they were sent. They were also a highly competitive group of individual businessmen, all competing against each other for the few jobs that were available to men of their trade. Despite being what amounted to the express mail service of the islands, fliers tended to be picky about what cargos they accepted.

They preferred the small, light weight, high paying and shorter cargo runs of the inner islands over the longer range, heavier cargos of the outer islands. The idea was that the less time you were in the air and the less fuel you burned, the more money you could make. But not everyone held to this belief. Senior pilots tended to enjoy the longer runs to the outer islands because to them, quantity was not necessarily better. Time, training and experience had taught them a myriad of ways to save fuel and time while still make a comfortable profit in the end. If Keil's guest was right, the pilot of the approaching flier was not only a well seasoned pilot, but one of the best in the entire hundred isles, despite his age.

As Keil reached the end of the dock in front of Teben's boat shop, his eyes began to scan the sky around him for signs of the incoming flier. Hearing the sound as well, Teben hobbled out of his shop and stood next to Keil on the dock.

"A flier's coming, eh?" he said.

Keil nodded, but said nothing. After several minutes of waiting, Keil began to become concerned. Normally it didn't take this long for a flier to appear once it had been heard. Yet there was no sign of it anywhere. He was just about to mention this to Teben when a slender, sleek flier body appeared suddenly over the trees at the far end of the small lagoon in front of Teben's shop. It's twin turbine powered props buzzed with excitement as they sliced effortlessly through the air. The flier dove down and came in low and fast across the water as it raced towards the dock. Suddenly its propellers growled loudly as their pitch was quickly changed from a puller to a pusher configuration. Within moments the flier seemed to come to a complete standstill, hovering awkwardly above the small lagoon as the water churned wildly below it.

Seconds later the engines and the props went silent as the ultra light aircraft plopped gracefully onto to the water below it. Keil grinned. It was definitely who he thought it was. Nobody else was crazy enough to try such a maneuver. The props soon spun to a halt and everything around them became deathly silent. The pilot climbed out of the cockpit and tossed a mooring rope to Teben who quickly pulled the small aircraft in close to the dock, and then tied it off on a nearby post.

"Hello grandpa Seis. What brings you here today?" asked Keil as he tried to hide the glee he was feeling at seeing his grandpa again.

The old man straightened his disheveled white hair and grinned at Keil.

"Just here to deliver a package," he said.

He reached onto the floor of the cockpit, picked up a small package and a clipboard, and handed it to Teben.

"You know the drill," he said half chidingly.

Teben chuckled. "If I've forgotten how to do something as simple as this, then it's probably time for me to retire, isn't it?" he replied with a hint of playful sarcasm.

Seis looked at Keil and smiled. "So what brings you down here today?" he asked.

Teben pointed at Keil and said, "He's been picking my brains all morning. If he keeps this up, I'm going to have to start charging him by the hour."

Seis chuckled and ruffled Keil's hair affectionately.

"He always was one who loved to learn. I kind of regret not bringing him to the guild of scholars at a young age. He might have become a great philosopher."

"What? Keil? Nah. He makes a better fisherman than a philosopher. Besides, while he may be smart, it's best that he uses that great mind of his to help us improve the fish harvest," said Teben.

"Fish harvest? Nah, that's a job for someone else," said Keil.

Teben curiously rolled the package over in his hands and said, "So what did you bring me today?"

"I don't know. But it comes from the supreme chief," said Seis.

Teben looked at Seis in surprise, and then quickly read the note attached to the package.

"Oh dear. This is quite a request. Why would the supreme chief ask me to do something like this?" he said.

Seis shrugged. "I don't know. I just deliver the packages. You'd have to ask him yourself."

Teben blinked. "Me? Question the supreme chief? I'd have to be mad to do something like that." He turned to Keil and said, "Excuse me. I need to get to work on this right away." He turned and hurried away to his shop.

"That's quite an honor being picked by the supreme chief to do something, isn't it?" said Keil.

Seis nodded, but said nothing. Keil studied his grandpa intently, and then noticed something. He grinned slyly.

"Uh, grandpa Seis? That package isn't from the supreme chief, is it?" he asked.

Seis eyed Keil and grinned slyly. "You're just as sharp as ever I see. You are correct. That the package is not from the supreme chief. It's actually from uncle Oden."

"Then if it's from him, why did you lie and say it was from the supreme chief?" asked Keil.

"Because of three reasons. The first is that Teben won't do anything for uncle Oden. Second, Teben owes me a favor. Third, I owe uncle Oden a favor. So I'm doing this in order to settle two favors. One owed to me, and one owed to your uncle."

"Well, that's certainly one way to do it."

Seis nodded. "It is."

"But doesn't this little favor cost you a lot of fuel?"

Seis shook his head. "Not at all. I had to be out this way for a delivery anyways. So this is just a small jog off my route."

Keil nodded. "Well, that was certainly convenient."

Seis nodded in return. "It was. So tell me. Teben said you were down here talking his ears off today. What exactly were you talking about?"

"I'm looking at building a boat or two," said Keil.

"A boat? Didn't you already build a boat?" said Seis.

"Nope. Just a wave glider."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

Keil shook his head. "Not really. A wave glider is just a surfboard with a sail. While it could be classified as a boat, it doesn't have anything close to a traditional boat design."

"And you want to build a more traditionally designed boat," said Seis.

Keil nodded. Seis cocked his eyebrows in interest. "It's certainly an interesting project. Just be careful while you're working on it."

Keil grinned. "I haven't even designed it yet. That's why I was here talking to Teben. I needed to learn how to properly design and build a boat first before ever starting on the project."

Seis nodded approvingly. "A wise idea, I must say."

Keil nodded. Just then, a thought crossed his mind. "Grandpa, can you teach me about fliers?"

Seis cocked his head in surprise. "What brought that up? We were talking about boats just a moment ago," he said.

Keil blushed slightly. "Sorry, my mind works like that."

"So why do you want to learn about fliers?"

"Because they're just like boats. Well, somewhat like them anyways. Fliers can land on water, and they can float. So I was curious about them."

Seis shrugged. "I don't see why not. However, I suspect that your reasons go beyond the flier's ability to land on water, and extend into some�anterior motives of yours," said Seis, half accusingly.

"Not really," said Keil. "Well, it's for a project of yours, isn't it?"

Keil shrugged. "It is. But it's nothing you'd be interested in."

Seis grinned slyly. "Try me."

But before Keil could say anything, Teben appeared again holding a small white box under his arm. He handed it to Seis and said, "You're all set. I hope the supreme chief is happy."

Seis nodded gratefully. "Thank you. How much does my client owe you?"

Teben waved his hands in mock protest. "Nothing! Nothing at all!"

Seis raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Is that alright?"

"It's for the supreme chief! Please, take it with my blessings. No charge at all," said Teben insistently.

Seis nodded. "You will be honored."

Teben nodded. "I am already honored just by having this opportunity."

"Well, I must be off. I need to return this to the central island before noon. Would you come and untie me from the dock?" said Seis.

"Of course!" shouted Teben with joy.

"Do you have enough room in your flier for me too?" asked Keil.

Seis nodded. "I do, but why would you want to come along? I can teach you about fliers some other day."

"Well, I just figured I'd spend some time with you. I don't get to see you much."

Seis grinned. He knew that Keil likely had other reasons, but he didn't see the harm in letting him come along.

"Alright, you can come," he said.

Keil cheered and then jumped in the passengers seat of the flier. Seis then climbed in after him and waited as Teben released the small rope from the dock and tossed it to Seis before retreating a safe distance away. Seis checked his fuel and power gauges, did a quick preflight check, and then leaned out of the cockpit and gave the flier a gentle push away from the dock. The small craft bobbed slightly in the water on its thin rail like pontoons as it drifted slowly away from the dock. Moments later Keil heard the whine of the twin turbines as they struggled to start up. After a few moments the engines roared to life and the props immediately began to growl in anticipation. Seis snapped his harness in place, put on his flight helmet, and closed the door. Keil watched in wonder as the small flier slowly turned around and began creeping out across the lagoon. Suddenly, to Keil's surprise, the flier lurched rapidly forward as Seis pushed the engines to full power and adjusted the pitch of the blades to bite hard into the air. Keil felt his body pressed hard against the seat as the spindly little aircraft quickly got up to speed and climbed gracefully out of the water like an angry dragonfly.

For nearly a minute the little flier gained altitude with impunity before slowing suddenly and nosing over. Keil found himself slammed forward against his harness for a moment before a brief sensation of weightlessness overtook him. He quickly shook off the effects, and then noticed that the engines had gone almost completely silent, save for a soft growl that issued from the propellers.

"So, did you enjoy takeoff?" asked Seis.

Keil nodded. "That was great! I loved it!" he shouted with excitement.

Seis grinned. "I thought you would."

"Grandpa? How far can one of these fly?" asked Keil.

"About a hundred miles on a good day. Two hundred if I add an extra fuel tank in place of the passenger's seat." Seis then chuckled loudly as Keil frowned and muttered to himself. "You weren't hoping to fly one of these to the end of the world, were you?"

Keil shrugged. "It was a thought."

Seis shook his head. "Only the bravest of pilots will go out over the sea. Winds out there can be very unpredictable. So don't ever consider it unless it's an emergency."

Keil nodded. They sat in silence for the rest of the flight as Keil looked down at the other islands in awe. As they drew close to Seis's home island, the flier banked slightly to the right and descended towards a short stretch of hard packed dirt in the middle of the island.

"That's where we're going," he said.

"We're going to land in the dirt?" asked Keil in surprise.

Seis nodded. "The fliers can land on more than just water."

Keil blinked in surprise. That was something he didn't know and it made him even more curious to learn about them. The flier banked to the right one more time, and then slowly began to descend. The flier bobbed uneasily from side to side as rising warm air currents buffeted it from below.

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edropus

I'm no writing critic, just a reader, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

First, the highlighted above. This kind of repetition just really jumps out at me as a reader and is distracting. As far as the 'said', the quote marks tell me that these characters are saying something. What I find myself wondering is how they're saying it, or what their moods, attitudes, etc. are. Same general thing with the 'specimen' thing. I know it's a big part of the story, but seeing it over and over again is distracting.

Other then that, I like the literary trick of a dream sequence that's actually not. I hate dream sequences and almost stopped reading, then realized what you were doing. That was smart, and if you could mix in lots of reader-tricks like that it'd make for an interesting story.

There's a certain clumsy aspect to the sentence structure, but I'm not writing-educated enough to tell you what or how to fix it. Hopefully someone else can do so. I think that will probably be your largest obstacle on the way to getting published.

Best of luck to you.

Lord Raiden

Thanks. I'm actually finding that doing the audio book readings is making me clean up the writing a bit more because hearing it and reading it are two different things and you quickly pick up on things that are wrong if you hear them. A lot of the time we'll just overlook them if we only read them instead.

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edropus

Since I've been writing again I find myself going back to rewrite dialogue, saying the line out loud to fix a word or two and dumping the whole thing. But I also have, as of yet, been unable to pace around the house talking to myself in order to make things sound more natural.

Look forward to your rewrites. =]

Lord Raiden

Yeah. I've gotten a lot better in the last two years. It's pretty obvious if you see my writing from two years ago compared to today. heh. But yeah, saying it outloud really makes the difference on getting it to sound right.

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Lord Raiden

I've been thinking over your comment about the "he said" and "she said" thing and thought I'd give you an answer that should slightly clear up the confusion about that. The way I was taught to write dialog was that, if the speaker is uncertain, use "he/she/it said" or something like that to indicate the speaker. If it's clear who's talking, such as in a two sided conversation, then no statement of who said what is needed except after breaks in the dialog, or as a way to periodically remind the reader of who's saying what. The reader then is on their own to figure the rest out, which is fairly easy.

So for example, one thing I'll do is I'll tend to have dialog like this:

"speaker 1" said speaker 1.
"speaker 2"
"speaker 1"
"speaker 2"
*Action or narrative*
"speaker 2" said speaker 2. (the "said" is only used if the speaker is different than the speaker specified in the action or narrative, or the speak is in question again.)

That's kind of a rough example of how I do it. I might indeed use it a bit too much in a few places, but that's likely because I want to be rock solid sure that the reader understands who's saying what, without either insulting their intelligence, or assuming too much and ultimately confusing them. Most of the time I tend to err on the side of not confusing them.

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Cryofax

I think the criticism was over the word "said" being used repeatedly, as opposed to mixing it up a bit. i.e. "he replied", "she shot back angrily" or whatever. Not using "said" over and over is as much a good writing practice as the other things you mentioned in your post. It just has an amateurish feel when the "saids" come too often.

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