Linked Questions
12 questions linked to/from I'm getting tired of "he said" "she said" in dialogue; how do I get around it?
14
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How do you vary dialogue within stories? [duplicate]
How do you vary dialogue within stories? I often find myself writing "'sentence/dialogue' said character", and it sometimes gets really repetitive. How is this managed?
These are the only words that ...
- 3,425
2
votes
5
answers
564
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Writing compelling dialogue [duplicate]
I try to avoid repeating the prosaic "he said", "she said" structure as much as possible when writing dialogue.
But I think overload of complex descriptors "he articulated", "he intoned" is ...
- 925
16
votes
6
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Dialog, just what's the best way to write it?
I've come across the following conventions:
"What’s this for?" asked Jake.
Sue replied, "None of your business."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, it looks darned funny sitting here."
"It’s ...
- 550
10
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4
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Why do writers use "said" instead of "asked" when someone asks a question?
I often see writers use "said" instead of "asked" when their character asks a question.
e.g. From The Hobbit:
“Where else should I be?” said the wizard
Is it a mistake that hasn't been caught by ...
- 203
10
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2
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Alternative word for "she"
I am writing about a female person. I noticed most of my sentences start with "she". Is there a way to avoid using this pronoun too many times, and use an alternative word instead?
I have tried ...
- 223
6
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4
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Is it correct to use verbs like "sighed" and "laughed" as dialogue tags?
In other words, is it correct to write something like this:
"Oh," he laughed. "Sorry, I'm not sure what's with me today."
(Every time I see something like this, I think: "...
- 12.4k
7
votes
1
answer
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When to use the character's name and when to use she/he?
This is the first short story where I'm using actual names for the characters. Here is a sample:
"Sorry for the question," Jun said. "But why don' you have friends?"
Ling glanced at him, then ...
- 12.4k
2
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4
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How much repetition is too much repetition?
This is a question that'd been bothering me for a while. Here's an example:
My heart racing, I wriggled to the edge of the bed and fumbled for
Travis' hand. Just make sure to hold onto it, he'd ...
- 12.4k
1
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4
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Is it necessary to use words like "said", "asked," etc in dialog?
I am writing a novel. I'm not sure if the below sentence structure is correct. I have not used any word like said/replied/asked.
He was looking at the painting. “You do not have to believe me. I will ...
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3
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4
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Attributives in dialogue
I normally stick with "he said" and "she said" to keep things simple and transparent to the reader but wondering about questions. Is "she asked" and "he asked" appropriate when a character asks a ...
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4
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3
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How many times should I use the word "said" in one page?
When writing fiction and dialogue tags, I find myself using the word "said" approximately 1-1.5 times a page (or every 250 words or so), and the word "asked" slightly more.
What is (around) the ...
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2
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2
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Advice on how to beat word repetition in dialogue [duplicate]
Long story short: I default to simple words like "Said" in dialogue much too often. I'm hesitant to abuse the thesaurus due to advice I've been given, as well.
Slightly longer version: When I'm ...
