Write in 2014 discussion

Often we find ourselves writing "said" after a character says something in our stories. But sometimes we just can't think of any replacement words for "said".

So if you have any alternatives for "said" or any other words, write them all down here!

Here's some:
-asked
-retorted
-exclaimed
-sympathized

I have some :D

inquired
muttered
murmured
cried
scowled

screamed
shrieked
whispered
crowed
quibbled
argued
protested

that's all I have for now...

I have been told off for being too inventive and afraid of the word "said", so be careful :)

snapped
snarled
mumbled
growled
smiled (yep, my character smile sentences)
snorted

I hope I don't give anything that's been given before:

implored
replied
spat
suggested
denied
agreed
intoned
rasped
shouted
extolled

Here are a few others. Like Malin, I've often heard that using "said" is usually the preferred, because readers are so accustomed to it that they sort of blank it out and just move in the dialog. But, from time to time, having something that isn't "said" can really make a passage happen. (Back when I was a teen, I used to read Alexandre Dumas who has the unfortunate habit of just putting the dialog without any "he said"--and once I'd lose which is which, I get totally lost.)

Quipped
Affirmed
Guessed
Uttered
Voiced
Responded
Rapped
Implied
Recited
Pronounced
Remarked
Repeated
Judged
Disclosed
Revealed
Rehearsed
Stated
Expressed
Declared

Oh boy. I'd better not add on here. I had to do this for my creative writing class, I've got about a thousand different words. Lot's of fun. :D

wow :D

Wow Kenzie. O.o

And this is a great topic. Can't think of any just this second, but just one thing that people have sort of said before (no pun intended): be careful with how you use these, because sometimes it can be too much. In other words, don't just throw in a word because it's more interesting than the word "said." Throw in a word because it's a more accurate description of how your character spoke.

But if your character really just said something, then don't tell the reader that s/he exclaimed, "I have to wash my dog." If you feel that you still must spice it up a bit, you could add an emotion or action (which is something that I often prefer to do). For instance, the sentence might be something like, "'I have to wash my dog,' Charlotte said with disdain" (of course why she says it with disdain is up to you, and should perhaps be explained)

Anyhow that's my two cents on using the word "said."

Oh, and you could also try this link: http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse...

snapped
snarled
mumbled
growled
smiled (yep, my character smile sentences)
snorted
------------
My Characters smile sentences too :D

Pouted
deadpanned (deadpan is like flat sarcasm)
moaned
griped

My characters like to grin things. LOL :D

YEP!

Said is beautiful. Do you really want to have "No!" Bob growled. "The cake is mine!"

"I beg to differ," voiced Enrico. "You got the last one."

"It's mine, I said!" bob squealed.

-


Said blends in. Don't use all the weird words.

Marisol wrote: "Said is beautiful. Do you really want to have "No!" Bob growled. "The cake is mine!"

"I beg to differ," voiced Enrico. "You got the last one."

"It's mine, I said!" bob squealed.

-


Sai..."

Although in that case, I think that growled fits nicely, giving a nice image. However, I agree with the other two being better as said. In fact, the last one could even go without a dialogue tag (which I have a tendency to do when it's just two characters.)

All that's left to do is replace "Bob" with "Bert" and "Enrico" with "Eernie" and you've got a clip from Sesame Street that will never be aired.

lol I've never seen Sesame street. Listening to the Elmo song makes me cry.

You've never seen Sesame Street? What did you do your whole childhood, you poor thing? XD lol

I watched disney movies. But I can't watch it now because Elmo makes me cry so....

Ah, disney movies. I wasn't really into disney movies as a child. I liked Mulan and Beauty and the Beast, and that was about it … I loved other random movies, like The Nightmare Before Christmas … and My Neighbor Totoro … and Kiki's Delivery Service. XD

You didn't like The Little Mermaid? Or Anastasia?

I never really liked The Little Mermaid, no. Anastasia isn't a Disney movie, and I never saw it anyway until like two years ago. lol. And … well, it has great songs, but it's a pretty bad movie. >_<

The only thing I like abvout the little mermaid is

"You have your looks.... your pretty face. And DON"T underestimate teh importance of BODY LANGUAGE" and ursula does a wiggle.

I hated Anastasia. It was boring.

I always thought Arielle was annoying. She really is kind of a spoiled brat …

Yeah … Anastasia … blaaahh

She is. And she's superduper skinny and annoying and antifeminist. Then again so is belle and every disney princes but Mulan, who I love.

Marisol wrote: "She is. And she's superduper skinny and annoying and antifeminist. Then again so is belle and every disney princes but Mulan, who I love. "

Yeah. I love Mulan! :P I actually disagree about Belle, though. At least she's smart and uses her brain, and her relationship with the beast develops over time and she falls in love with him because of who he is … rather than the usual, "Ooh look! A handsome prince!" and they get married the next day. haha.

The rest of the Disney princesses I never liked … Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty … all of them, ugggh. XD

Yeah IKR.

Mister I'll make a man out of youuuuuuuuuuu

I love that song.

my mom never let me watch The Little Mermaid but I still had the other Disney stuff. I love Mulan too.
and that song XD
BE A MAN

I must also stand up in defense of Belle! She is completely feminist! Hers and the Beast's relationship actually grows! She uses her brain and wears normal clothes and no one in her town actually likes her tht much. She's awesome.

And if we want to get back on subject, here's what I've heard about the whole said issue:

If you want to use a verb besides "said," only do it if it adds something to the sentance. Readers tend to skip over the words "said" and "asked," so you better have a good reason to make them stop and read the word. For instance:

"What is your name?" he inquired.

is worse than

"What is your name?" he asked.

because in the first one, you're making the reader stop and read the word "inquired" even though it adds nothing to the sentance. All it tells the reader is that the quote was a question, which they know from the question mark. In the second one, you are letting them skip over that part and go to the next line. However, if you want to show how something is being said,

"What is your name?" he demanded.

is perfectly fine. Demanded paints a picture of how the question is being asked. Or you could also add an adverb:

"What is your name?" he asked furiously.

Although using a lot of adverbs is apparently frowned upon in general, though I'm not sure why. I've heard J.K. Rowling gets some heat from writers about her excessive use of adverbs. I've never noticed it. =P

And that's my really long two cents about this all. More like a dollar.

Well, J.K. Rowling did use the word 'sycophanatically' twice.

'demanded' is better then 'furiously.' adverbs annoy me to no end.

Did she? That's interesting. I don't even know what that word means.

I completely agree with you Magdelina. Our eyes just skim over "said" and "asked" so there'd better be good reason why they'd have us stop. :D Plus, everyone knows what "said" and "asked" means. I know a lot of people who'd have to pull out a dictionary to figure out the word "inquired."

and inquired just sounds weird. Ditto with "replied."

hmm...what the world has come to where people don't know what inquired means and probably don;t even care..lol...I do like inquired though, the sound of it is great to me..but everyone thinks differently

I think it soundsmpus and annoying.

"What are you doing?" she inquired
vs
"What are you doing?" she asked.

Hmm...with that i REALLY COULD GO EITHER WAY BUT i i do agree that in certain situations one or the other is better

don't specify if you don't need to either. As in

Marisol marched into the room. "What are you doing?" she asked (or inquired.)

doesn't work as well as

Marisol marched into the room. "What are you doing?"

Yea that I do agree with completely, the first is too wordy, sounding like it was too over thought

I think a lot of time dialogue tags can be nonexistent as well.

Yeah, as long as the reader can tell who is speaking, don't use them. If you use one every time, it gets too heavy. But don't go like:

Ten guys stood in the room.
"Who's hungry?" he said.

Because that's just stupid.

it is.

LOL I totally agree with both of you. If you have a long stream of back and forth dialogue, though, you should always insert some action, or speaker tag, because people do get lost (like me. :D)

Like this:

Percy and Susie waited for the bus, alone.
"Hi," Susie said.
"Hi."
"How are you?"
"Fine."
"You know what fine stands for, don't you?"

Probably now is a good time to put another tag on, just to make sure the reader is following.

"What?" Percy asked.
"Freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional!"
"I'm not any of those."
"I think you are," Susy winked.

I like using other verbs that aren't even speaking ones, lol. But that's an example of a conversation that definately didn't need a tag on all, or even most, of the quotes.

Yeah. That works.

There are people who don't know the word inquired? O.o How sad.

And as far as words like "winked" go... you probably should not put a comma there. Put a period. People cannot wink words. Unless they have developed some sort of non-verbal communication that involves eyelid movements, it is impossible. Therefore, it cannot be used as a dialogue tag. However, it is an action that can accompany speech. In this case, the dialogue tag can be left off entirely, and the bit of dialogue can be directly followed by the action, like this:
"I think you are." Susy winked.

Or you can include the tag, like this:
"I think you are," Susy said with a wink.

Well yeah. You're right, but my characters always use wierd other verbs to say things. Like someone said up there about smiling words.

I like the word inquired. But I think it only works when the character is asking someone something (context duh).
As with 'said', like people have been saying, you don't want to eliminate it from your writing vocabulary. Just don't use it every time someone speaks. Adverbs work and other adjectives work too. My help; a thesarus. Those help to no end!

♥ Brigid ♥ wrote: "Ah, disney movies. I wasn't really into disney movies as a child. I liked Mulan and Beauty and the Beast, and that was about it … I loved other random movies, like The Nightmare Before Christmas … ..."

How is Anastasia not a disney movie?

Because it isn't Disney. It's like Warner Bros. or something. But everyone thinks it's Disney… 

It's 20th Century Fox. :D I own a copy. I love that movie so much. It was my favorite when I was a little kid.