Tags (like name tags) identify. A dialogue tag is set of words following quoted speech (e.g. ‘she said’), identifying who spoke and/or the way they spoke. Other words for ‘said’ can indicate:

• Volume (e.g. yelled, shouted, bellowed, screamed, whispered)
• Pitch or tone(e.g. shrieked, groaned, squeaked)
• Emotion (e.g. grumbled, snapped, sneered, begged)

The relation between these aspects of voice may also be important. It will be strange, for instance, for a character to ‘sneer’ the text ‘I love you’, since the word ‘sneer’ connotes contempt which is as opposed to love.

Considering that you will find countless verbs that will substitute for ‘said,’ if you simply find a stronger, more emotive one and make use of that?

Not always. Below are a few strategies for using dialogue tags such as said and its particular substitutes well:

1. Use all dialogue tags sparingly

The ninjaessays legit problem with dialogue tags is they draw focus on the hand that is author’s. The more we read ‘he said’ and ‘she said’, the greater amount of we’re alert to the writer creating the dialogue. We see the author attributing who said what – it lays their hand that is guiding bare. Compare these two versions of the conversation that is same

“I told you already,” I said, glaring.

“Well I was listening that is n’t was I!” he said.

“Apparently not,” he replied.

Now compare this to the following:

I glared at him. “I told you already.”

“Well I was listening that is n’t was I!”

For some, it is a case of stylistic preference. Even so, it’s difficult to argue that the version that is first a lot better than the next. Within the second, making glaring an action in the place of tethering it to the dialogue gives us a stronger feeling of the characters as acting, fully embodied beings.

Since it’s clear the glaring first-person ‘I’ may be the character speaking at first, we don’t want to add ‘I said’. The effectiveness of the exclamation mark in the second character’s reply makes any dialogue tag showing emotion (e.g. ‘he snapped’) unnecessary. We know it’s a reply from context because it’s on a new line, and responds to what the other said.

Similarly, into the speaker’s that is first, we don’t need a tag telling us his tone (that it’s curt, sarcastic, or hostile). The brevity, the known fact it’s only two words, conveys his tone and we can infer the type is still mad.

Using tags sparingly allows your reader the pleasure of inferring and imagining. Your reader extends to fill in the blank spaces, prompted more subtly because of the clues you leave (an exclamation mark or a pointed, cross phrase).

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2. Use ‘said’ sparingly, other words for said way more

The word ‘said’, like ‘asked’, gives no personality and colour to a character’s utterance. In conversation between characters, choices for said can tell the reader:

• The person emotional or mental states associated with the conversants
• The degree of conflict or ease into the conversation
• What the connection is like between characters (for instance, if one character always snaps at the other this may show that the smoothness is dominanting and maybe unkind towards the other)

Listed below are dialogue words you can use rather than ‘said’, categorised because of the types of emotion or scenario they convey:

Anger:

Shouted, bellowed, yelled, snapped, cautioned, rebuked.

Affection:

Consoled, comforted, reassured, admired, soothed.

Excitement:

Shouted, yelled, babbled, gushed, exclaimed.

Fear:

Whispered, stuttered, stammered, gasped, urged, hissed, babbled, blurted.

Determination:

Declared, insisted, maintained, commanded.

Happiness:

Sighed, murmured, gushed, laughed.

Sadness:

Cried, mumbled, sobbed, sighed, lamented.

Conflict:

Jabbed, sneered, rebuked, hissed, scolded, demanded, threatened, insinuated, spat, glowered.

Getting back together:

Apologised, relented, agreed, reassured, placated, assented.

Amusement

Teased, joked, laughed, chuckled, chortled, sniggered, tittered, guffawed, giggled, roared.

Storytelling:

Related, recounted, continued, emphasized, remembered, recalled, resumed, concluded.

Despite there being a great many other words for said, remember:

• Too many could make your dialogue begin to feel just like a compendium of emotive speech-verbs. Use dialogue that is colourful for emphasis. They’re the salt and spice in dialogue, not the whole meal
• Use emotive dialogue tags for emphasis. As an example if everything has been placid and a character suddenly gets a fright, here could be a place that is good a shriek or a scream

One problem we often see in beginners’ dialogue is that all the emotion is crammed in to the words themselves additionally the dialogue tags. Yet the characters feel a little like talking heads in jars. Your characters have bodies, so be afraid to don’t make use of them. Compare these examples:

“That’s not what you said yesterday,” she said, her voice implying she was retreating, withdrawing.

“Well I hadn’t thought about it yet. The fact is given that I’ve had time I note that maybe it’s not going to work out. But let’s not be hasty,” he said, clearly planning to control her retreat, too.

“That’s not that which you said yesterday.” She hesitated, turned and walked into the window.

“Well I hadn’t seriously considered it yet.” He stepped closer. “The facts are now that’ I’ve had time I note that maybe it is not planning to work out. But let’s never be hasty.” He reached off to place a tactile hand regarding the small of her back.

The dialogue is interspersed with setting in the second example. The way the characters build relationships the setting (the woman turning to face the window, for example) reveals their emotions mid-dialogue. The movement and gesture conveys similar feelings to the dialogue example that is first. Yet there’s a clearer sense of proximity and distance, of two characters dancing around each words that are other’s thoughts and feelings.

Vary the real way you show who’s speaking in your dialogue. Use emotive other words for said to season characters’ conversations. Yet seasoning shouldn’t overpower substance. Make use of the content of what characters say, their movement, body language, pauses, and silences, to generate deeper, more layered exchanges.

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