Stop the constant He/She said!

Ever read a story or just have been writing, and you are constantly seeing he said or she said? It can be annoying and kind of dull in a story, so here are a few links I found to help with this problem!Use these as a reference to better you writing

http://www.spwickstrom.com/said/

http://blog.writeathome.com/index.php/2 ... -say-said/

Remember this and using this one tip in your writing can make it 1000% better!

Oooh, that's a nice list and has a lot of variety! Gracias! c:

@EternalRain, I just realized that the first link (from what I tested) did not work like I thought it would, I just fixed it! '

Spoiler

it is the best link in my opinion

An important note: While using only "he said" or "she said" can get irritating, the reverse is also true. If you never use "he said" or "she said", then your other dialogue tags lose effect and appear silly or over-the-top.

Vary your dialogue tags, but don't be afraid to use plain old "said" and "asked"!

yes, I totally agree, but you do need a little bit of both

Eh, I tend to disagree. The good thing about 'said' is that it's practically invisible. Most readers just skim over it, while still absorbing the meaning It keeps the attention on the dialogue, which is how it should be. Using fancy words instead of said just draws attention to it, and if you need to specify how your character is saying something using a dialogue tag, than you should probably consider whether or not your dialogue needs to be punched up a little bit. (I know I have this problem.)

Often, if there are too many he/she saids, that's more of an indicator that the author needs to put some beats into the dialogue instead of just doing one line after the other. Describing what the characters are doing in a way that makes it clear who just spoke or throwing in some other sensory detail is often a better way to break it up than using a fancy dialogue tag.

It is good to have some variety, though, and the ones on these lists look pretty good - most of them aren't super weird or anything. It just tends to drive me crazy in English class when the teacher decides that "said is dead." And the other danger is using those fancy words incorrectly because you aren't entirely sure what they mean.

*didn't mean to write an essay there *

I have to agree with @Meandbooks. I personally don't see how 'he/she said' makes a piece lacking or dull. First of all, for me, the most important aspect of dialogue is its realism, its meaning, and its necessity. If you fulfill those aspects, you've got a nice dialogue already. How a character says it is the second thing.

And the second thing shouldn't overshadowed the first, which is why the variation of 'said' can be a bit distracting to the point of being annoying. Not only you want to replace other word for 'said', you also don't want to repeat the same word, and the use of many words to describe the way of saying something can be a chore - you've to find the right verb, and it can sometimes make you overlook the dialogue.

That being said, being in the middle ground should be good if you still want to use other than 'said'. Use just a bit of variance of 'said', but not too much that it would shift your focus to it. At some points, you don't have to use it at all - as it gets annoying when you read 'he said/yelled' in each dialogue tag. Meandbooks has good points on how to drop it and still manage to let your readers know who's talking.

I think that sometimes, just 'said' doesn't really cover it. Sometimes you need to convey a certain mood. 'Said' can mean anything. You should sometimes narrow it down, using words like 'Whispered', 'Shouted', 'Urged'... Things like that...

Did anyone else thing that it said "Stop the contest He/She said!" and think this was going to be a forum about someone being upset about a certain contest?

@lostthought: Lol, I'm thinking where did you get the 'Stop the contest He/She said!' xD

Please try to stay on-topic.

In any case, I think @Meandbooks brings up a good point. If you're using tags for every piece of dialogue, it points towards a larger problem with your dialogue than just the tags. Different people speak differently, and how a character orders their words in addition to the vocabulary they use can be enough to identify them without tags of any sort.

Then again, the pages linked to in the first post mention as much themselves.

What @Meandbooks said. ^^ It's basically everything I'd want to say. Said is like a period: invisible, and works every time.

That being said, a bit of diversity helps convey an emotion when you feel like you're missing the mark or the dialogue doesn't quite do the job. But, if you've ever read a book like Bourne Identity (doesn't use the word at all), then you'd appreciate the value of said, and no doubt use it more often than not.

I'm not sure it's possible for me to disagree with this advice more.

'Said' is the best word to use 99% of the time. Anything else draws attention away from the dialogue.

Convey emotion through your dialogue and context. Don't rely on speech tags.

If you're able to use no speech tag at all, even better.

wow. I thought we were talking about inappropriate jokes.

...........

I'm wondering how many of the people who have commented on this thread have read the linked-to articles in the first post.