Amortentia1992 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Rumpelstiltskin posted an awesome and helpful guide to dialogue tags and how to use them here+ I know that many authors already know and use interesting words to express communication. However I find that sometimes it’s helpful to see some options instead of using said when using dialogue tags. This+ article post is one I’ve used a lot in my own writing as a helpful tool. I thought however, that I could try my hand at breaking it down by mood/situation for everyone’s reference. Of course many of these can be used across categories, but I’ve posted them in the context I would most use them. Feel free to post below if I’ve missed things, the more the merrier. Surprise/Recollection Exclaimed Cried (also could be used for sadness) Remembered Exaggerated Proclaimed Announced Recalled Revealed Spluttered declared reflected Stuttered Pronounced Reminisced blustered Anger/Irritation/Demanding Murmured Muttered Screamed Shouted Yelled Barked Ordered Insisted Lectured Mimicked Objected sneered snarled hollered snapped argued scolded simpered snobbed shrieked sighed grumbled rumbled mumbled told informed Howled Threatened Tormented Disagreed Faulted Blamed Hissed grunted warned commened gripe demanded blasted bit chewed roasted growled hounded grimaced spelled out challenged implied insinuated Countered Countermanded Deliberated Communicated Negated Abnegated Intonated Cussed Cursed Spat Swore Rattled on Harped on Huffed Nagged Shouted down Cheerfulness/agreeable Laughed encouraged giggled cackled squealed prattled teased boasted chatted chuckled gloated joked assented Egged-on Chirped Chirruped Questioning Queried offered implored persisted pestered pleaded pondered proposed begged repeated wondered asked thought coaxed urged concluded decided inquired hinted tempted prodded assessed wished Afraid/Upset/nervous whimpered whispered cowered fretted sobbed prayed apologized stammered tattled wept bawled mourned squeaked Complaining Whined Complained Protested Groaned Moaned Sulked Wailed Gasped lamented Normal/various Uses Replied Answered Interrupted Observed Lied Added Advised Agreed Allowed Began started Remarked Responded Promised Breathed Spoke Called Denied Finished Sang Wooed Assured Delivered Flirted Went on Confessed Continued Related hesitated Funny/unusual (Interesting uses) rasped uttered blurted gurgled chanted drawled wheezed yawned tempted googled oogled burble whhdled grizzled twittered slurred toasted dribbled warbled elocuted oozed Bandied Riposted Caterwauled Bleated Dripped Mewed Nattered on Blathered 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rumpelstiltskin Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 Awesome list! I'm pretty partial to the basics (ie: said & asked), but I do like to switch it up if the situation calls for it. It's nice to have a little cheat sheet to look at now if I want to use something other than said. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowkat678 Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 (edited) Personally, I'm on team "Said is not dead". These are great to use occasionally, but the thing about said is it's a word we gloss over for the most part, while also being told who is speaking, and if we just use it for that purpose, we can focus on showing the reader how it was said by context clues instead of telling them in the tag. If you can't figure out a way to do that it's better to use tags, because then you can be sure the reader knows and it doesn't come across as a different context than you meant it to be. It also makes it feel a lot more powerful, and complex, since more than one emotion can be present in a small section, which a single word for a dialogue tag often can't convey. But it's better to write: Hermione could feel herself losing control. Her heartbeat was rising, and her palms were sweating around her wand as her hand shook. She could feel the tears, the anger and heartbreak and lose swirling inside her chest that she'd tried to push back for so long. "Why? Why did you do it," she said, and Hermione could hear her voice rising. Gaining volume with each word as a dam of emotions finally broke. "Why did you kill him? He didn't do anything!" Versus: "Why? Why did you do it," Hermione screamed. "Why did you kill him? He didn't do anything!" Of course those are two extremes, and there are in between examples. Sometimes you want to be less wordy. It's also good to remember that even under the same overhead category of emotion, a lot of them can't be used interchangeably to the same effect, which is something I think a lot of these lists forget to touch on. A lot of times people can imply that, but when someone's new to writing, or they're writing in a language that's not their first, then that's always good to cover. I've seen people use dialogue tags as crutches on here and on other writing sites, even published books, enough that I think it's a good reminder to give every once and a while. Dialogue tags aren't evil like some others say they are, but I think they're one of those things that should be sprinkled here and there when you don't want to say so much and don't have enough context to convey, rather than dumped to try and make it seem varied every time, which can instead just seem distracting if not handled carefully. Edited December 30, 2018 by Shadowkat678 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diogenissa Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I've scoured your very impressive list (to make sure I wouldn't repeat anything lol) and I've used confirmed a few times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts