Thread: Said

Has anybody got any suggestions for words to use instead of 'said'

I was taught that said was incredibly boring, I do use it where appropriate but sometimes I need other words.

'Said' is perfectly fine. It's one of those words a reader passes over without a second glance. It's become invisible to us. That's why it's used so often. Words like 'replied' and 'opined' and 'inputted' are distractions that say the exact same thing but can cause the reader to pause and lose flow.

Effective writing is often simple writing. Why open a thesaurus and look for a fifty-cent word when a five-cent one is in your head and convenient?

Ah, the immortal 'said' war.....

To answer your question- stated, proclaimed, asked, inquired, whispered, mumbled, screeched, shrieked, bellowed, shouted and screamed are all words that can take the place of 'said' depending on the emotions of the speaker. You could also swap said out with 'told him/her'.

Or you could stick with said and try to liven it up a bit with any of a swarm of adverbs- drearily, slowly, quickly, hesitantly... the list goes on.

In summary, use your imagination and a thesaurus.

I'm not saying it's wrong to use words other than 'said'. I would never say such a thing. Just that it's not boring. It's simple, and that usually means effective.

Thanks for the suggestions. I proof read my own work, and I do tend to ignore said a lot.

I try to use as few dialog tags as possible, including said. It's possible to have an exchange with several lines of dialog and only use "said" every 3 or 4 lines -- maybe fewer times if you can attached the dialog to some action.

I don't try too hard to eliminate them on the my first pass, but I'll go back and remove them just to the point where it's no longer clear who's speaking. I'll use "whispered" or "shouted" or even "muttered" occasionally -- words people normally use in conversation -- not things like "opined" or "proclaimed" etc. -- and only when it makes sense, not as some means of cutting down on the "saids."

Otherwise, I agree, "said" is almost transparent to the reader -- as long as you don't use it with every line.

I like this thread. I get hung up on it too when I write. I try to remind myself, as Sam said, that it's one of those invisible words. But when I'm proofing something and I see that I have "said" over and over it gets discouraging. One thing that could take care of it (something I often try) is to lead the reader to already know who's speaking, then just give the speech. For example, -A prisoner leaned against the bars, waving one fist angrily in the air. "You got no right to keep me in here!"- No indication at all to who the speaker is, but no need for such.

Originally Posted by JosephB

Otherwise, I agree, "said" is almost transparent to the reader -- as long as you don't use it with every line.

Agreed. My problem is that, being a teen, I read a lot of teen fiction and all the dialogue goes 'he said, she said, he said, she said.' It's mind-numbing abuse like that which has led to the current backlash against 'said.' But I do agree, moderation is the best policy.

You just have to be careful using it, sometimes it saves you, sometimes it doesn't

Originally Posted by Vertigo

Agreed. My problem is that, being a teen, I read a lot of teen fiction and all the dialogue goes 'he said, she said, he said, she said.' It's mind-numbing abuse like that which has led to the current backlash against 'said.' But I do agree, moderation is the best policy.

There might be a backlash on writing forums -- I don't know about anywhere else. And I don't know if it has anything to do with teen fiction. More likely, it's because when people start writing, they overuse it or they become aware of it for the first time -- so they begin to question it.

I'd suggest to anyone -- pick up some decent literature and see how it's done, even if it isn't your cup of tea. When it comes to writing -- it's garbage in, garbage out.