Make said your default dialogue tag.
I know it can get boring and old writing said after most of your dialogue interactions. Some best-selling authors use creative dialogue tags. But just because they do it doesn’t make it right. Their writing would be stronger without them too.
Here’s the thing: Good dialogue doesn’t rely on speech tags or adverbs (she offered attentively, he asked sincerely, Bob muttered numbly) to express emotions or describe what’s being said.
Keep the speech tags to a basic “he said,” “she said” because we want the tag to be invisible. In fact, most contemporary authors I’ve been reading are dropping speech tags more and more from dialogue exchanges.
Instead of adverbs or creative speech tags—use verbs when it’s necessary to describe the quality or volume of a voice, but not to describe the content of what’s being said.
When you have a character hiss, growl, beg, demand you’re breaking the “show, don’t tell” rule. It’s also a sign of weak dialogue. If you feel like you need to use a tag other than said or asked for the reader to understand your meaning—rewrite your dialogue and the beats around it to make it stronger and clearer.
Original: “Beat it,” he roared.
Improved: “She doesn’t want you here.” Paul shoved him toward the door hard enough that Rick lost his balance. “I don’t want you here. If you come back, I’m calling the cops.”
Said and asked are virtually invisible to readers. Our minds skip over them. More creative tags aren’t, they quickly become distracting and annoying. They’re also impossible. Go ahead—try to hiss or growl a sentence. Another way we violate “show, don’t tell” in our tags is when we tack on an adverb, such as he said angrily, or she said sadly.
We’re telling the reader the emotion the character feels rather than showing them through action and sensory detail.
It’s cheating.
The exception to both these rules is when you need to give your reader an indication of volume. Whispered, shouted, and yelled are all appropriate as long as you don’t overuse them. So is, she said softly. Someone can speak softly without necessarily whispering, so, in this case, there isn’t a stronger verb to use in place of the adverb. You can also use a modifier to indicate the way they’re saying something if you can’t convey it through dialogue.
“Maybe, I can do it,” he said slowly. You could try to imply a slowness to his speech through action, but there’s no way you to imply that she spoke the words slowly other than by writing, he said slowly.
A dialogue tag is there to let the reader know who is speaking. The simple said does that and then leaves. Some writers have the wrong impression that said is not creative enough, and hunt for ways not to use it. This is almost always a mistake. Readers don’t really notice said, even when it serves its purpose.
On the flip side, it’s possible to use said in an abusive fashion. This is sometimes done, like this:
“Open the door,” Rick said.
“It’s open,” Paul said.
“Well, what do you want?” Rick said.
“Nothing.” Paul said.
Don’t do this either.
“Put that down!” Rick shouted with emphasis.
“But it belongs to me!” Paul declared.
“Put that down,” Rick repeated, a bit more sedately but still with insistence.
“You are such an insistent type,” said Paul bitterly.
Use alternatives only if absolutely necessary. On occasion, you may need to find a substitute word. Whispered, for example.
Original: “Footsteps coming close,” Paul mumbled nimbly.
Improved: Crunching hit my ears from behind, Paul whispered, “footsteps,” accelerating the already rampant pounding of my heart.
The tone of the scene and the words of the character should tell the reader how the words are being spoken. Instead of using a thesaurus, work harder at making the words and the action more vivid.
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