Look at how these words change the mood of the conversation: Was Mary objecting to John’s actions in a good-humored, frightened or angry way? Your choice of words can tell your reader what her tone of voice was.Īnd when she told John she loved him anyway, was she feeling romantic or amused? Did she blurt it out unexpectedly, or was she being coy and flirtatious? How did John feel when he responded to her initial protestation? Was he serious or light-hearted? Changing Moods What’s interesting is all these words imply mood much better than “said” does. Her opening, “Are you crazy?” could have been: Use Words Other than “Said”ĭepending on context, there are a whole bunch of alternative words for “said” we can choose. “Saying” words have been completely skipped, but we still know who was talking.
If John says something next, he’ll get a new paragraph to himself, emphasizing the change of speaker. In our example, we can clearly see Mary was doing the talking. Describe Actions Before or After the Quotation Marksįor example: “Oh shucks! I love you anyway!” Mary cuddled closer with a sigh.
That means that you can introduce your speakers, and then continue the conversation without saying who said what on the assumption your reader will be able to work out who is speaking, at least for a few lines. If a conversation involves two people (dialogue), your reader will quickly see the two people are talking. Skip the Bits Outside the Quotation Marks Altogether! That’s a whole lot of “said” right there, and it gets repetitive pretty fast, doesn’t it? It becomes essential to have alternatives for the word “said” if you want your writing to sound decent.
Then Mary leaned in close and said, “Oh shucks! I love you anyway!” “Well,” said Mary, “I wish you would give me some warning before you do things like that!” When there is a conversation, the most common thing to do is use “said” when a person speaks: Direct speech can be difficult to smoothly navigate when you’re writing, but if you’re writing a novel or short story, dialogue is almost certainly going to happen at some point.
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