The REAL way to handle “said” when writing dialogue

You’ve been taught the wrong approaches to deal with the too-frequent use of the word said in written dialogue.

Some advise writers to replace said with synonyms like replied, whispered, and even unfortunate suggestions like articulated and ejaculated. Others argue that approach is even more awkward. They claim that said is the only word you should ever use. Both remedies fail, because the people suggesting them have misdiagnosed the problem. Having too little variety in your dialogue tags* is only a symptom of a deeper underlying issue: too little variety in your sentence structure. Once you solve for that, your repetitive dialogue tags will clear up on their own.   

*A dialogue tag is the combination of words that tell you who a line of dialogue belongs to, like “Sami asked.”

So, is it okay to use said in writing?

You can and should use the word said in your writing. Just be sure to avoid needing it in every line of your dialogue. You have plenty of tools to achieve this:

• Describe an action instead of using a dialogue tag.
• Use a moment of introspection instead of a dialogue tag.
• Set up situations where you don’t need dialogue tags at all.
• Break up your dialogue with small doses of narration or exposition.
• Use an appropriate synonym (judiciously).

Here’s an example of the kind of writing that makes some teachers clamour, “Stop overusing said in your dialogue!”

Of course said is repetitive when it’s used in every line! So, some writers (acting on well-intentioned advice) will try to solve the problem with the help of a thesaurus:

Now we’re no longer repeating the same verb, but something still feels stilted. The structure itself is repetitive, with a dialogue tag in the middle or at the end of every line. To fix that, we need to employ some real variety:

I had planned to leave a said in here to prove how innocuous it is in moderation, but in the end I found I didn’t need any dialogue tags at all past the first sentence. Let’s break down each of the tools I used.

Tools for Varying Your Dialogue

Describe an Action

You don’t always have to tell the reader that someone is speaking aloud; your quotation marks convey that much. What they need is to know who is speaking—and thanks to a handy writing convention, you can do that by describing what your speaker is doing with their body.

Convention tells us that because Vic does an action on the same line as the piece of dialogue, it must be Vic speaking. If it weren’t, “Are you sure?” would have to be bumped down to the next line. Even readers who haven’t formally learned this rule understand it instinctively, so you can do a lot with it.

This strategy doesn’t just help you avoid said; it also gives your scene movement. If you never integrate action into your dialogue, it will seem like your characters simply stop and stare at each other every time they speak, and then resume their activities after the conversation is over. Integrating action gives you both body language (Vic scrunched up their nose) and mobility (Jackson helped his mama down the steps).

Incorporate Introspection

For your point-of-view character (the person through whose eyes the reader is experiencing the story), you have extra options for indicating the speaker without using a dialogue tag. When this character has an internal thought, or when the narrator makes an observation that belongs clearly to their point of view, there’s no question of that introspection being attributed to any other character.

The first sentence is clearly the perspective of our point-of-view character. Since it’s on the same line as the piece of dialogue, we know she is the one speaking. The same would be true if the first sentence were a line of internal thought: Like I’m ever going to give you the satisfaction.

Skip the Dialogue Tags

When it’s easy to keep track of who is speaking, you don’t have to add a dialogue tag at all. The most common situation involves just two people, especially if the conversation is fast-paced and doesn’t have a lot of physical action to describe:

This kind of exchange shouldn’t go on so long that the reader risks losing track, but you can always help them out with a single attribution here and there. Another way to employ this strategy is to give your characters distinct voices.

Break Up your Dialogue

Anything can get repetitive when characters hang around chatting for too long. Use the space between your lines of dialogue to give the reader more insight into what your point-of-view character thinks, feels, or knows about the subjects under discussion. This doesn’t just give you a longer break between dialogue tags; it also helps you slip in some exposition without the story grinding to a halt. The following conversation could come near the opening of a second book in a series, where exposition is always necessary but tricky:

Use Said

When should you use said? Whenever you want a nearly invisible tag that doesn’t convey any new action or emotion. Said is clear and concise and keeps the story moving. And it’s so unobtrusive that you can use it many times on the same page without ever drawing the reader’s attention.

Use Appropriate Synonyms

As we’ve already seen, there’s a good reason why some writers, editors, and instructors are vehemently against the use of synonyms for said. When your focus is simply on adding as much varied vocabulary as possible, you end up with awkward, overwritten dialogue that pulls the reader out of the story. But many of these words do have a place. They can concisely convey the tone or emotion behind a character’s words, their volume, or the quality of their sound.

I’ve felt my own share of frustration with advice-givers who dump every speaking-related word they can find into a list and encourage writers to use them. But I also disagree with those who ban their use entirely. So I’ve made some charts of my own to help you decide if and when to us a synonym for said.

Dynamic but Discreet Words for Said

These words convey how the character is speaking and what they are feeling, and they are unobtrusive enough to not distract the reader.

Word	When to use it
added	when your speaker is following up on a previous statement
admitted	when your speaker is acknowledging that someone else is right, or confessing something they have done
advised	when your speaker is giving advice
confessed	when your speaker admits to something they have done or a belief they have held
cried	when your speaker’s words are an expression of dismay
declared	when your speaker is emphatically (and perhaps a little dramatically) announcing something
exclaimed	when your speaker’s words are an expression of surprise
growled	when your speaker is angry or resentful but is still quietly communicating something (possibly with great reluctance)
muttered	when your speaker is quietly expressing annoyance
observed	when your speaker makes an unprompted and often ironic remark about the present situation
objected	when your speaker is protesting against something that has been said or ordained
pointed out	when your speaker draws others’ attention to something they have missed
reasoned	when your speaker is making a case for something
remarked	when your speaker is making an observation without a direct invitation or prompt
retorted	when your speaker has a snarky comeback
shouted	when your speaker needs to get someone’s attention in spite of noise, distance, or distraction
snapped	when your speaker is venting frustration
whispered	when your speaker is trying not to be overheard
yelled	when your speaker is communicating loudly and emphatically

Words for Said to Handle with Care

These highly specific synonyms draw the reader’s attention. Overusing them can make a scene feel melodramatic, so they should usually not be used more than once in a piece of writing, if at all:

Word	When to use it
blurted	when words spill out of your speaker that they really should have kept inside them
effused	when your speaker is gushing about something without restraint
hollered	when your speaker is non-aggressively shouting at someone across a distance (If “holler” is common vernacular in your book’s setting, it can be used more frequently without being obtrusive.)
interjected	when your speaker is interrupting someone else
intoned	when your speaker is dramatically reciting something in a low, resonant voice
screamed	when your speaker is at the climax of an extreme verbal altercation with someone
shrieked	when your speaker is uttering a short, loud, high-pitched, and highly reactive exclamation in response to something startling or upsetting
wailed	when your speaker is loudly and indecorously protesting against something

Pragmatic Words for Said You Might Not Need

When you’re inclined to use the following words, ask yourself if context is already doing the heavy lifting. The line may stand on its own as an answer, a clarification, or a demand without you labelling it as such. If not, there’s nothing wrong with using these as long as they don’t clutter up the text too much.

answered

assured him/her/them (always pair this with a pronoun or character name)

clarified

commented

conceded

demanded

explained

replied

retorted

speculated

suggested

How about Using Adverbs?

The combination of said + an adverb has been so overused in certain kinds of books that a whole class of jokes has been made from it.

These “Tom Swifties,” named for the Tom Swift books of the 20^th century, are cheeky fun for pun-lovers. But they don’t change the fact that sometimes an adverb can be the right fit.

While it is a good practice to ask yourself if there’s a verb that can do the same job as the adverb you’re reaching for, there will be times when you won’t find one that does exactly what you need. Consider the power of “she said flatly” or “he said heavily.”  Even “they said loudly” has shades of meaning not matched by “they shouted.”  

If you find that your adverb feels awkward, you can use a comma with an adjective instead, turning “they said incredulously” into “they said, incredulous.”