Need more words

[Keriahenta]

Whenever I'm writing, i found myself writing said (the name of the character a lot) and it gets repetitive. Is there any other words that can replace this word with?

 

[Cipiteca396]

Writing - [Tutorial] The Secret to Proper Paragraphing and Dialogue

Want to Know the Biggest Secret in the Fiction Writing Industry? It's not the Plotting they use, the Characters, the Theme, the Settings, or anything else like that. It's the Sentence Structure. DISCLAIMER: This is how I was taught to structure dialogue for publication purposes -- by my...

forum.scribblehub.com

Writing - Show don't tell: Emotions in writing

A list of showing emotion. I took this from my tumblr, I will link it if you want to make sure I didn't copy someone else's work. Embarrassment blushing fidgeting sweating hiding their face in their hands wide eyes crossing their arms around their body stutters stammering shifting their...

forum.scribblehub.com

Damn got the wrong image and busy, can't fix

 

[3guanoff]

Powerthesaurus is good. Or just skip said completely:

"I like candy."
"Which kind?"
"The right kind."

 

[Deleted member 113259]

Yeah, be specific about how they're talking.
Questioning - asked.
Assuming based on context- inferred
Providing context for something to be assumed - implied.
Answering - answered
Replying-replied
Lying and the audience knows it's a lie -lied
Explaining - explained
Negotiating - bargained
Joking - jested
Reasoning - reasoned
Starting a deal - offered
Closing a deal - accepted
Refusing -objected
Arguing - countered
agreeing - agreed
Being mean - insulted
Being nice - complimented

There are also synonyms for each of these examples.

 

[Cipiteca396]

Words to replace said

taken from tumblr, seems helpful so i'm sharing ^I have no idea why those are grouped together

forum.scribblehub.com

 

[Shard]

View attachment 20502


Damn got the wrong image and busy, can't fix

Don't worry, that image is very helpful as well, even if it isn't what you meant.

Words to replace said

taken from tumblr, seems helpful so i'm sharing ^I have no idea why those are grouped together

forum.scribblehub.com

Just took a quick glance, I highly recommend that. The few categories I checked were very well done and I can't particularly reply with anything that isn't already in that link so I'll just second it being a good one.

 

[Missivist]

I prefer "said" or "asked", unless replaced to clarify how the words were enunciated.

"No, I didn't even think about that", he mumbled.
"Well it's not like it's all my fault," she whined.
"Then stand up for what you want!" he shouted.
"Is this really the best we can do?" he muttered.
"I think we all expected that," he snickered.

Sometimes the author may feel the need to clarify certain interactions.
"This is not the job we were expecting," she objected.
"Now it is time – this very day!" she proclaimed.
"We would do better to be out of here," he countered.
"The contract was signed and sealed," he agreed.
"We already tried that yesterday," she explained.
"I think I might have an idea for you," she offered.

Words like bargained, accepted, inferred, implied, complimented etc are less useful.
If the character actually says it out loud, neither inferred nor implied is really correct.
If it is part of a negotiation, accepted and bargained are redundant.
If a compliment or insult is made, complimented and insulted are redundant.

And of course action tags can be so deeply, subtly expressive.
She turned her back to him. "Is that all you have to say to me?"
"Surely he didn't mean it?" She fidgeted, fingers loosely tangled.
He leaned around the door and scowled. "I thought you were with me."
She drew in a sharp breath. "I never intended anything of the sort!"
"I guess that's how it goes." He pushed back his chair and sank into it.

Also, after re-reading your question, you can often say he/him or she/her in place of the name, especially if action tags clarify the identity of the speaker. Or refer to them more descriptively - the blonde, the tall man, the spy, etc. Whatever helps identify them in the context of the story. That is another way to help avoid repetitive "[name] said" phrasing.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

Whenever I'm writing, i found myself writing said (the name of the character a lot) and it gets repetitive. Is there any other words that can replace this word with?

I made a thread about this where people discussed "said" and other words. https://forum.scribblehub.com/threads/dialogue-tags.14261/

 

[LunaSoltaer]

I think also a lot of readers will glance over said and asked, as they seem almost invisible (Envy probably touched on this in her thread but shush).

It's the other tags that draw attention.

tags are tools. Use them, or don't. Up to you in the end.

 

[Shard]

And of course action tags can be so deeply, subtly expressive.
She turned her back to him. "Is that all you have to say to me?"
"Surely he didn't mean it?" She fidgeted, fingers loosely tangled.
He leaned around the door and scowled. "I thought you were with me."
She drew in a sharp breath. "I never intended anything of the sort!"
"I guess that's how it goes." He pushed back his chair and sank into it.

Do note however, that this seriously annoys some people. You don't breath a sentence, or scowl a sentence, so you should put in some form of speaking. An example below:

William scowled, irritated by the implications as he responded, "I am not a fan of that course of action. It is likely that will lead to a fight with the guards."

 

[Notadate]

Approved

 

[Missivist]

Do note however, that this seriously annoys some people.

I think the punctuation in the action text is supposed to clarify the difference:
1) William scowled, " I do not like that." <-- wrong with a comma, as you say. One does not scowl a statement.
2) William scowled. "I do not like that." <-- correct with a period, I think. Scowled is an intransitive verb here.
3) William scowled and said, "I do not like that." <-- also correct, but perhaps wordier than need be.

I imagine that some readers may mentally stumble over sentence 2, but I am fairly sure that it is technically correct. And if it does subliminally suggest that William somehow "scowled" the statement, I like that imagery.

 

[Keriahenta]

Powerthesaurus is good. Or just skip said completely:

"I like candy."
"Which kind?"
"The right kind."

This looks really fast to me. Like they are rapid firing questions and answers like some type of gameshow. It's good if i want the conversation to be quick like meeting in the road or just a quick question like,
"Hey, I'm going to supermarket what do you want?"
"Get me some ice cream."
But in a tense discussion for example it feels really fast and inexpressive

 

[TheEldritchGod]

What's important is that you are consistent in your writing style. You can write using any rules you want, as long as you don't change them. I have a stylized choice of

Robert started running, "This is me saying something." Then he paused, ~This is me thinking.~

I never used "said" or anything of the sort unless I specifically want to emphasize something.

"I have no problem just talking."

She interrupted, "Because if there are two people chatting, you know who is speaking."

"Yes, that's true."

"But It helps if you occasionally use information outside the quotation marks."

~Of course it helps, you bint.~ I just smiled and nodded, "Yes, dear."

You can figure out who's talking. The more words I use to tell you the obvious, the more time of yours I am wasting. Yes if you wish to fill up that word count and make your story look big and impressive, using 'SAID' helps, but I find it to be fluff. Every word I can delete from my story without the reader losing the plot is a victory. The more dense and shorter the story, the better.

Remember, your reader is paying you IN TIME. Give your reader their money's worth.

 

[Impia]

Whenever I'm writing, i found myself writing said (the name of the character a lot) and it gets repetitive. Is there any other words that can replace this word with?

If it helps, try to think of dialogue tags like punctuation. "Said" is repetitive in the same way that periods are repetitive - technically they are, sure, but that isn't a real problem. Readers don't actually care about this (unless they're also writers who got overly self-critical about it), and trying to 'fix' it will make your writing worse.

To continue the punctuation analogy, occasionally it's necessary to use a question mark instead of a period, and sometimes an exclamation point expresses more to the reader, but you never need to spice up your punctuation for the hell of it. You certainly shouldn't throw it all out either - just use it appropriately and your writing will flow well for the reader. If you don't, your writing will be harder to follow. I know I can't stand it when people just leave no dialogue tags for dozens of lines on end and I have to go back and close-read to keep parsing everything right!

Missivist's advice on when to use words other than 'said' or 'asked' is really good.

 

[melchi]

Whenever I'm writing, i found myself writing said (the name of the character a lot) and it gets repetitive. Is there any other words that can replace this word with?

You can use action tags but sometimes said is fine. Some authors say it is a good way to keep word count down and place more emphasis on the quote. Just don't use it so much that it goes into talking heads syndrome.

 

[ElijahRyne]

Whenever I'm writing, i found myself writing said (the name of the character a lot) and it gets repetitive. Is there any other words that can replace this word with?

Don’t use description/action tags unless necessary for a scene. In a two person dialogue it is reasonable and fairly easy to pull of a conversation with out a single one of them. If you have really well defined characters you might even be able to add more people to that conversation without using one.
Example:
”Yo, did you know John likes apples?”
”Yes, I mean those are the only fruits he eats.”
”Seriously?”
”Yes, he has bragged to me that, besides apples and bananas, he has not eaten another fruit. H-.”
”No way that’s true man, I swear I have seen him eat every vegetable under the sun. There is no way that he hasn’t eaten more than that.
”I would say that, if not for…

 

[Cipiteca396]

Example:
”Yo, did you know John likes apples?”
”Yes, I mean those are the only fruits he eats.”
”Seriously?”
”Yes, he has bragged to me that, besides apples and bananas, he has not eaten another fruit. H-.”
”No way that’s true man, I swear I have seen him eat every vegetable under the sun. There is no way that he hasn’t eaten more than that.
”I would say that, if not for…

Never do this.

You don't need dialogue tags, but you DO need to explain who the sentence belongs to. No matter how well-defined your characters are, it's very easy to mix up who's talking if it's just talking heads over and over. Especially if you have new characters, or characters that haven't shown up in a while, or characters who have similar speech patterns. Or if the story hasn't updated in a week and you've forgotten how they talk!

70% of talking is body language. If you aren't describing what your characters are doing while they talk, you're missing the vast majority of the conversation.

In a conversation like the one above, just imagine the two characters T-posing, and the dialogue coming out of a speaker between them. If nothing written changes that mental image, then your writing can be improved. Drastically...

 

[ElijahRyne]

Never do this.

You don't need dialogue tags, but you DO need to explain who the sentence belongs to. No matter how well-defined your characters are, it's very easy to mix up who's talking if it's just talking heads over and over. Especially if you have new characters, or characters that haven't shown up in a while, or characters who have similar speech patterns.

70% of talking is body language. If you aren't describing what your characters are doing while they talk, you're missing the vast majority of the conversation.

In a conversation like the one above, just imagine the two characters T-posing, and the dialogue coming out of a speaker between them. If nothing written changes that mental image, then your writing can be improved. Drastically...

Typically you will already know the characters who are talking beforehand. You know who wants what, and if you don’t you add the descriptor it doesn’t matter. If you want to add body language you stop the conversation with narration and restart the conversation with a description tag for who is speaking. You also use them to put a pause in the conversation or to bring emphasis to a line, moment, thought, or to clarify. What you don’t want is to rely on them to convey information that can be conveyed better in dialogue or in narration.

Spoiler

Example.
I unlocked and opened my door and Jane quickly entered before turning and pulling me into the dorm room as well.

“What was that for?”
“Sarah was too late with that talk, once again.”
“What?”
“What I mean is her vision has already happened.”
“Then how are-“
“I am alive because her ‘visions’ are not accurate. What she described was a dream that I experienced yesterday. Not to mention….”
“What?”
“Nevermind, look at the ground.”

My mind was swirling in confusion. I had yet to catch my bearings. Yet every word was more confusing than the last. So, I looked down and saw her shadow. Her green shadow. Wait, her green shadow? She isn’t wearing green, though I doubt that that could create this phenomenon.

“Your shadow is green. Why?” I asked before my brain could reboot itself.

When Tim turns menacingly I don’t expect the conversation to continue without inner thought/dialogue. However, the issue comes when he said this, she whispered that, they whimpered together, etc. in each and every conversation. If there is no need for a descriptor don’t use it. Unless you want two melodramatic puppets that pose after every sentence. If the conversation is short and between two people you probably don’t need description tags.