Other words for reveals how to#

The strength of the exclamation mark in the second characterвЂ™s reply makes any dialogue tag showing emotion (e.g. A stronger sense of dialogueвЂ™s вЂback and forthвЂ™.Д«ecause itвЂ™s clear the glaring first-person вЂIвЂ™ is the character speaking at first, we donвЂ™t need to add вЂI saidвЂ™. In the second, making glaring an action rather than tethering it to the dialogue gives us a stronger sense of the scene. вЂњWell I wasnвЂ™t listening, was I!вЂќ he said.ДЇor some authors, itвЂ™s a matter of stylistic preference.Д®ven so, itвЂ™s hard to argue that the first version is better than the second. Whenever you read the author attributing who said what, it reminds us a narrative convention is being used.Д¬ompare these two versions of the same conversation: Romy Sommer in вЂWriting dialogue: What to avoidвЂ™, webinar preview here. Keep it as tight as possible, and move as quickly as possible into the purpose of the conversation. Novel writing coach Romy Sommer says of dialogue: The more we read вЂhe saidвЂ™ and вЂshe saidвЂ™, the more weвЂ™re aware of the author creating the dialogue. The problem with dialogue tags is they draw attention to the authorвЂ™s hand. Show how people speak using action and gesture.Use said or other tags only where necessary.

Other words for reveals how to#

Here are some tips for using dialogue tags such as said and synonyms for said well: How to use said and its synonyms well: They let charactersвЂ™ words do the emoting. вЂHe saidвЂ™ and вЂshe saidвЂ™ are often preferable because they do not draw the readerвЂ™s attention to the fact they are reading written dialogue. Given that there are countless verbs that can take the place of вЂsaid,вЂ™ should you simply find a stronger, more emotive one and use that?

It would be strange, for example, for a character to вЂsneerвЂ™ the words вЂI love youвЂ™, since the word вЂsneerвЂ™ connotes contempt rather than affection.

yelled, shouted, bellowed, screamed, whispered)

It identifies who spoke and/or the tone or emotion behind their speech. In written conversation or dialogue, a tag is a group of words following quoted speech (e.g. Read other words for said as well as tips for keeping your dialogue natural and engrossing: What is a вЂdialogue tagвЂ™? ItвЂ™s not only what characters say but how they say it that matters. Writing effective, compelling dialogue has multiple elements.