I've looked at other posts here, but none really get to the bottom of it, and none are specifically like my question.
I'm writing the same story from two different perspectives. The first one is in 3rd person, and one of the characters often laughs. It might be described something like this:
Charlie laughed. "That's ridiculous."
or
Charlie laughed and then turned away.
Now I am writing the part from Charlie's perspective, and I can't find a way to integrate the laughter, which is an important part of the way Charlie talks (he is often laughing while he speaks). There are no dialogue tags, just a stream of consciousness.
Is it amateurish to say (it doesn't read that great to me):
"Ha! That's ridiculous."
or
"Haha! That's ridiculous."
It stand out especially because Charlie laughs very often. There can be no dialogue tags (e.g.: "I laughed and then said, "ridiculous."). It has to be within the talking. If I leave out the laughing, then the tone is totally wrong because the character seems too serious. If I leave it in, there are so many "Ha ha"s. But maybe it's OK, or maybe there's another way?
Thanks!
Any ideas?