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Young Writers Society


Instead of said, you can use......



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Fri Dec 01, 2006 4:56 pm
Alicia K. Hudson says...



exclaimed
asked
questioned
announced
groaned
mumbled
cried
yelled
screamed
laughed
called
explained
sighed
complained
moaned
whined
grouched
replied
responded
requested
demanded
babbled
bawled
chattered
chortled
chuckled
gasped
whispered
giggled
murmured
muttered
shrieked
snickered
sneered
spluttered
tittered
wheezed
whimpered
snarled
yelped
squealed
growled
defended
grunted
screeched
sang
gurgled
finished
howled
agreed
encouraged
settled
approved
granted
established
contracted
wondered
joked
started
pressured
started
hesitated
greeted
scolded
cautioned
told
praised
welcomed
addressed
acknowledged
saluted
ignored
disregarded
overlooked
snubbed
noticed
advertised
warned
noted
perceived
detected
remarked
spotted
yawned
nodded
thought
worried
decided
determined
supposed
believed
assumed
alleged
understood
considered
reflected
remembered
planned
attended
accepted
recalled
evoked
invoked
delayed
memorized
comited
forgot
appealed
implored
quoted
refered
mentioned
begged
aroused
reminded
resorted
included
embraced
implicated
engaged
occupied
elaborated
tangled
immersed
participated
answered
reacted
countered
incountered
solved
satisfied
resolved
retorted
defined
wavered
paused
dawdled

I have way to much free time on my hands, lol.
Add more if you can think of any![/list]
  





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Fri Dec 01, 2006 6:17 pm
Trident says...



Or instead of the majority of those words, you can use said and then use action to show how they said it. That's probably the better way to go.
Perception is everything.
  





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Fri Dec 01, 2006 8:37 pm
Cassandra says...



Or....

You could just use said. Because it's all pretty and sparkly like that. Too many substitutes make stuff sound forced, me thinks. ;)
"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring."
-Chuck Palahniuk
  





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Fri Dec 01, 2006 8:37 pm
Alicia K. Hudson says...



Yes, actions are good too.
  





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Fri Dec 01, 2006 8:51 pm
Alicia K. Hudson says...



Or....

You could just use said. Because it's all pretty and sparkly like that. Too many substitutes make stuff sound forced, me thinks.


Yes, but just using said, every time throughout a story is quite annoying.
".......!" Joey said.
".................!" Tom said.
"...........?" Sarah said.
"........................" Claire said.
Catch my drift? The actions or words like I listed, give the character attitude.
".......!" Joey exclaimed.
".................!" Tom added excitedly.
"...........?" Sarah asked.
"........................" Claire explained thoroughly.
Like that.

But I do agree that i makes it sound "pretty and sparkly" Then again, I like that effect.
  





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Fri Dec 01, 2006 8:59 pm
Trident says...



Hehe.

Alicia, one of the aspects of good dialogue is that you don't have to use a tag every time. That would get annoying. Most of the time you can even drop it altogether.

(Assuming we're just using Joey and Tom)

"I'm not liking this homework," Joey said.
Tom scratched his chin. "Me neither!"
"What do you think we should do?"
"Let's blow this joint and get a hamburger."
Joey licked his lips. "Sounds delicious."
"I knew you would think so."


See, you don't even have to have tags for half of these. And since we know there is only two people, we know who is responding to whom. I had one "said" in there and nothing else. That's how dialogue should work. You don't want long confusing tags with longer adverbs. That slows your action down and can be replaced by actions that show emotions.
Perception is everything.
  





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Fri Dec 01, 2006 9:05 pm
Alicia K. Hudson says...



Yes, I know that. However, I was using four characters, and each only spoke once (I know I used ...... for dialog).

Didn't mean to confuse anyone, if I did.
  





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Fri Dec 01, 2006 10:08 pm
Doctor Kitty says...



Or you could do what they said. Haha. Word pun.

Also, Snoink or someone already beat you to this with a verrrry large list of 'said' words.
  





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Fri Dec 01, 2006 10:26 pm
Trident says...



Snoink's list is a good one. It lists the ones you should and should not use. You can use these variants, just use them sparingly.
Perception is everything.
  





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Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:45 pm
Alicia K. Hudson says...



Also, Snoink or someone already beat you to this with a verrrry large list of 'said' words.


Sorry, didn't know. I'm sort of new to the site :( .
  





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Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:50 pm
Sureal says...



No worries ^_^.

Also - if I haven't yet said it (I cannae remember) - welcome :).
I wrote the above just for you.
  





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Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:56 pm
Alicia K. Hudson says...



Thanks.
And nice website, by the way. Just adding this in, I know a lot about html and css if you have any questions. When I say a lot, I mean A LOT, I've been studying it since I was nine.
  





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Sat Dec 02, 2006 12:03 am
Cassandra says...



I believe Trident is talking about this: viewtopic.php?t=6059

Pretty handy, no?

But really, going on what trident said, you don't have to say "he said" after every line of dialouge. You can put the tag in different places, or not use it at all. If you look at a published book, you will find that the author used "said" much more than any other substitutes.
"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring."
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Sat Dec 02, 2006 2:09 am
Snoink says...



Nice list! :D

And hahaha... sometimes, you won't want to use "said." It just determines which is prettier at the time. ;)
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  





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Sat Dec 02, 2006 3:33 am
Wiggy says...



Both are good! I always forget the substitutes I can use...o_O
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