Given Stephen King’s place in the pantheon of American authors, we are willing to concede that he and the other purists may have a point here. But unthinking overuse of certain words is a bad habit.
We’re reporting on the car, and Dane’s telling us once that it’s redesigned is all that’s probably relevant to the story.As for the part about using everyday language: In conversation, you don’t say, “Said Betty, lunch will be served in the conference room.” You say, “Betty said lunch will be served in the conference room.” Putting “said” or “says” before the name is contrary to normal conversational language and often Yoda-like (Rants on, she does).So I like my quotation attributions in the past tense and in most cases I like the “said” to come after the name.
When applied purely to avoid repetition, said bookisms One option is to keep dialogue tags to minimum. From he + said, past tense of say + she + said, past tense of say. We order the same dish at a restaurant.
“Said” is invisible, they insist; anything else is distracting at best, clunky and awkward at worst. Proponents of this style—Stephen King is a famous example—argue that quotidian verbs like “said,” “asked,” and “ replied” are the only dialogue tags necessary. Not in the larger world, anyway.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
A reporter can know whether Dane said something in an interview, but he probably doesn't know whether Dane runs around saying it all the time. This lack of creativity often shows up as repetitive “dialogue tags” (verbs that indicate who is speaking)—usually the word “said.”Here are some examples of the most common way to attribute dialogue to a certain character using he said or she said.So what should you do when your dialogue attribution becomes too repetitive?One option is to substitute a different verb, preferably one that communicates action or emotion at the same time.But just because you have options, does that mean should you exercise them?Interestingly, there’s another school of thought that says mindless variation is completely unnecessary.
We buy the same clothes in the same colors. Here are some examples of the most common way to attribute dialogue to a certain character using he said or she said.
To better describe the feelings behind the reported speech and other statements in narrative writing, it's important to use vocal verbs and adverbs. The dialogue itself can also indicate action and emotion.Here’s the bottom line: Good writers know how to describe action and emotion without raiding the thesaurus for ill-fitting substitutes.
Learn more about dialogue After the speakers have been identified, attribution is rarely necessary.
To show an action which is habitual: “She says the prayer every morning at 5:00 after taking a bath.” To introduce quotations: “Keats says, ‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever.’” Direct and reported speeches may be expressed using “says,” for example: “He says, ‘The school will be over at 12:00 in the afternoon today.’”This is direct speech.
We watch the same TV programs.Writers have habits too. And though some publications may have a policy of not using present-tense quotation attributions or ones that put the “say” part before the name part, it doesn’t mean you can’t do it that way.
The correct wording is "what did she say". Deftly crafted dialogue tags and speaker attributions add subtle emotional cues that help develop character and move the action forward.
That’s different from “said,” which suggests he said so in an interview with a reporter.
I have to change them toWhy do I have to change every “says” to “said” and put every one of them after the name instead of before?
Therefore you don't need to use the past tense again with "said".
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