Looking for another dialogue tag other than “said?”
Don’t know about you but I do tire of using he said, she said over and over. I’m sure readers tire of seeing this tag peppered throughout a book.
But what to use instead?
Thanks to my favorite Ape, I found The Mad Scribbler and an extensive list of alternative tags.
Creating Tone through Dialogue
Now I’m not sure all of these words work but the list does give me ideas for adding action to a conversation.
How about you? Do you think the word “said” is overused?
What about some of the words on the Mad Scribbler’s list? Would you use them?
Want more suggestions? Go to links at bottom of post.
Go here to “like” my Facebook page. Facebook at jeanswriting
Leave a comment or click the “write me” tab or find for me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jeanswriting and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.
Please remember to share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.
Over 200 words to use instead of said.
The Use and Abuse of Dialogue Tags
Jean's Writing 
Reblogged this on Don Massenzio's Blog and commented:
Here is a great post from the Jean’s Writing blog on the topic of dialog tags with some great resources
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t mind using said. What I do like to see is a description of the expression or something to show me body language. I read somewhere body language is actually around 75% in a dialogue exchange 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t mind said as long as it’s not overused.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Kim's Author Support Blog.
LikeLike
Said doesn’t bother me. Most of the time, unless more than two people are talking, there’s no need for a tag at all. Frequently substituting words other than said can be a distracting effort for the sake of unnecessary novelty in my view.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right on point as always
LikeLike
For my first book my editor took out all of my creative dialogue tags and advised me to use said or no tags. Good post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks
LikeLike
I prefer ‘said’, because it is invisible if used correctly, but agree it can be annoying if overused . I don’t use tags if it’s obvious who is talking. My preference is to follow dialogue with action and skip the tag completely. I just can’t get around people expostulating, ruminating and postulating 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Me too, action even in conversation moves story
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just wrote a post about this as well. I’m actually trying to move away from dialogue tags completely. We’ll see how that goes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Do let me know how it turns out with no tags
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person