Oooh… going to try them all out in one single chapter. With adverbs, he bellowed satisfiedly.
That conversation would probably be much better if one of us was ejaculating, though."You're crazy, Dalya." SM Reine picked up her cappuccino, pinky finger daintily curled, and took a sip.
Dalya slammed her fist on the table. "I'm crazy? I'm crazy? You're the one with a treadmill desk the size of a condor in your home office!"
I think it's possible to overuse action tags, too. Using a combination of dialogue tags (mostly "said" or other invisible words), action tags, and no tags at all is still the best way to go, IMHO. But it varies from author to author and from genre to genre, too.In all seriousness (WHAT?), I've started using beats a lot more than any dialogue tags, including "said" and "asked."
"Only one of you?" he questioned, a disagreeable grin dividing his facial plane in twain. "Never forget," he added a thoughtful moment later, mildly bombastically, "the Golden Rule applies in love and in war and in all things in-between."smreine said:That conversation would probably be much better if one of us was ejaculating, though.
Hmmm, use caution with some of these.Dalya said:"Said" is dead! Use other words!
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I'm so glad I found this chart, because I've been using boring old "said" this whole time when my characters could have been ejaculating and guffawing and chortling out words!
Oh, yeah, I agree. But I think if you can tell who's speaking from context without dialogue tags, it's better to drop them about 90% of the time. It makes it easier to read the book out loud, anyway. Because that's everyone priority! Reading out loud!MegHarris said:I think it's possible to overuse action tags, too. Using a combination of dialogue tags (mostly "said" or other invisible words), action tags, and no tags at all is still the best way to go, IMHO. But it varies from author to author and from genre to genre, too.
You obviously haven't met anyone like my two teenage daughters.Vera Nazarian said:A person cannot giggle something.
Oh, yes, I post this tongue-in-cheek.Vera Nazarian said:Hmmm, use caution with some of these.
For example, don't use "giggled" -- that's actually incorrect as a dialogue modifier. A person cannot giggle something.
I like using beats, too. It's an elegant solution when done right.smreine said:In all seriousness (WHAT?), I've started using beats a lot more than any dialogue tags, including "said" and "asked."
Me too!I am guilty of using "whispered" and "muttered" waaaayyy too often, by the way.
Also guilty of this one, very occasionally. No one's perfect.I was reading an e-rom series where people kept "gritting out" dialog. Oh, it made my eyerolling muscles so sore.
Hate that one. Sounds really awkward.I just read a novel by Suzanna Kearsley which repeatedly used "was her/his reply."
They left off "ejaculated". What's a saidism list without ejaculated??!!!Dalya said:"Said" is dead! Use other words!
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I'm so glad I found this chart, because I've been using boring old "said" this whole time when my characters could have been ejaculating and guffawing and chortling out words!