Jump to content
News Ticker

Alternative Words for said


Amortentia1992

Recommended Posts

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

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Rumpelstiltskin

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

  • 2 months later...

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 by Shadowkat678
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...