Synonyms for said - Writers Forum

shadowseer · 06-27-2005, 12:26 AM

I hate the word said, it is probably one the most overused words in the english language. I'm having continous dialouge, and i need a link to a good online thesaurus, or suggestions or something cuz i'm havingwith the word!

bobothegoat · 06-27-2005, 12:33 AM

Personally, I think said is fine. "The" is used a lot, but you don't see anyone searching for synonyms for that, do you?

Sorry if this isn't helpful, but while using words such as "shouted," "interjected," or, "whispered" can work in some cases, the simple elegence of "said" will usually suffice. More complicated words take away from the actual dialouge.

journyman161 · 06-27-2005, 12:33 AM

http://thesaurus.reference.com/

Also, writers 'see' the 'he said' 'she said' as they write it, but usually nobdoy actually registers it when they read.

Hodge · 06-27-2005, 01:09 AM

Replied, agreed, exclaimed, whimpered, shouted, yelled, breathed, opined, posited, asked, groaned, growled, shreiked, snarled, squeaked...

"Said" usually does the job, because dialogue is supposed to stand on its own. But sometimes there's a special modifier you need to add in there which changes everything.

For instance: “I’ll tell you my name if you tell me yours,” Linn said.

“I’ll tell you my name if you tell me yours,” Linn breathed

The former just sounds normal, like a statement. But the latter implies something more, almost seductive.

Xonia · 06-27-2005, 01:16 AM

Muttered, mumbled, whispered, stated, uttered...

woodcut.evolution · 06-27-2005, 01:24 AM

Or don't use anything. If there is an exchange and we (the reader) already know how is talking then you don't need a 'Jill said' and a 'Jack said' after every line if the exchange.

Xonia · 06-27-2005, 04:07 AM

But you have to, once in a while, to make clear who is the speaker.

It is better though to do something like:

'But why?' Janice's gaze focussed on his face.

Saponification · 06-27-2005, 07:47 AM

"Said" and "says" suit me fine. I'll only use something else if I have to cut off a toe.

And Hodge, you can get that seductive tone by demonstrating Linn's behaviour. Have her rub up against the guy, lean in close and so on. It's all about the body language.

valeca · 06-27-2005, 08:00 AM

As Journyman said, most people don't notice 'said'. It basically turns into white noise for the reader. If you take a look at some writing tips sites, you'll see that an editor prefers 'said' over a mss peppered with similar words. They're distracting and end up hindering the dialogue rather than helping it.

Stick with said, unless there is a specific reason not to. IE: 'shouted', 'groaned', 'whispered', etc...

Xonia gave a good example of something to help break up dialogue tags.

suzakugaiden · 06-27-2005, 12:23 PM

First, a lot of people prefer that you just stick to said. Why? Well, first, it's sort of a meta-word, I guess, that you just IGNORE when reading; it's interface to the dialogue and nothing more and thus flows well. Second, using synonyms for said is just telling. Your dialogue should show the mood. Ideally it would also show the speaker and you wouldn't even NEED dialogue modifiers.

Furthermore, don't just randomly go for synonyms. Each word, no matter how similar they are in meaning, WILL tend to denote different things.

And finally, a lot of the times the words used aren't really words which you could speak with. "I heart bacon!" John smirked. Is smirked a talking word? Not really.

Actually, if you DO need to mofidy the tone, then avoid actually "talking words" and just make a new sentencec after it.

"That's a lovely jacket," Jozbap said as she crossed her arms and smirked.
"That's a lovely jacket." Jozbap was smirking.

Worst case scenario you're going to end up with something like, "'Give me my wand, Harry!' Ron ejaculated loudly," and then everyone will laugh at you, and proceed to make you immortal or something.

Drzava · 06-27-2005, 12:29 PM

Use an adverb and said, said smirkingly

Or if you wanna grab their attention, "Give me back my wand Jack!" HARRY SHOUTED THE FUCK OUT.

shadowseer · 06-27-2005, 02:04 PM

Here's what i wrote. I have to use a dialouge word thing, cuz i'm introducing new characteres.

Quote:

“David.” said a man with brown hair, jeans, and a black t-shirt that looked a size too big.

“Daniel.” said a strapping man who was carrying a look on his face that resembled sadness and loss.

“Lori.” said a woman who looked about twenty who had auburn hair that went fell down to her shoulders like a waterfall.

“Anthony.” said a man with bright blonde hair and circular glasses that were perched on the tip of his nose.

“Addie.” said a woman with brown hair that was cut very short who was wearing ratty jean overalls.

“Samuel.” said man who was barely even noticeable. He hid in the back, behind all the others.

valeca · 06-27-2005, 02:26 PM

If you're wanting comments on the sentences, here's mine (apologies in advance for sounding harsh):

Punctuation and grammar are incorrect and/or missing, and there is a great deal of 'telling' rather than 'showing'.

mammamaia · 06-28-2005, 09:06 AM

you've lots of spelling errors, beginning with 'dialouge' and 'characteres'...

also, as val notes, the examples are pretty much all 'wrong'... here's why:

Quote:

“David.” said a man with brown hair, jeans, and a black t-shirt that looked a size too big.

...there should be a comma after the names, not a period, since you're following them with attribution [dialog tags]...

...that attribution, however, is all way too long and involved... and, in most cases, full of grammatical and other errors...

...if this is, as it seems, a group of folks introducing themselves, it badly needs some variety in the doing, since it's very boring as is...

...here are just two examples of how they could be written properly and more interestingly:

Quote:

“Addie.” said a woman with brown hair that was cut very short who was wearing ratty jean overalls.

"Addie!" The woman shouted it out, over the din. Her brown hair was cut quite short and she wore ratty denim overalls, but still had an air of elegance about her.

Quote:

“Samuel.” said man who was barely even noticeable. He hid in the back, behind all the others.

"Samuel," a small man said, almost too softly to be heard. He was barely noticeable way in the back and seemed to be using those in front of him for cover.

...see what i mean?...

love and hugs, maia

jta_8888 · 06-28-2005, 09:36 PM

As a general rule in writing, said is the most appropriate tag to place after a character speaks.

Of course, asked is another, but that's only if, well, one character asks another something. o.O

Also as a general rule, you should only use tags that are forms of speaking: mutter, mumble, whisper, exclaim, snarl, plead, whine, etc.

Those are all forms of speaking. A character can only, after all, SAY a sentence. He can't act it out (unless he's deaf or mute, eh?).

So, safe bet would be just to continue on using 'said.' Like people have been saying, after a while, you sorta skim over it.

Or:

"Let's go back to my place," said Jane, grinning.

instead of

"Let's go back to my place," Jane grinned.