Hope someone can tell me if there are any "rules" about placement of the verb 'said.'
As any avid reader knows, 'said' regularly appears before and after the subject who is speaking. Is there any real difference between the following:
"It's a nice day," Trudy said.
"It's a nice day," said Trudy.or:
Trudy said, "It's a nice day."
"It's a nice day," said Trudy.
Does it come down to having some variety with dialog tags? Does it have to do with flow? Should you choose one way and stick with it throughout a novel?