Words to use instead of "Said"

[otaku_rose]

not sure how this became a discussion, lol I was literally trying to share my writing tool. oooof, what did I stumble into

[Penni]

you opened the can of words that is "said"

[vothnthorvaldson]

It's still interesting (and probably super useful for people whose first language is not English), and provoking discussion is always a positive thing

[sxxaint]

this would actually make a really interesting promo thread - "guess the genre of the post above you by their favourite dialogue tags"

[otaku_rose]

OMG... I didn't even know this was a thing. I literally just started writing last year. Oooof, what bad timing. I ain't here to argue with you guys lol. 🤣

[otaku_rose]

lol it would be! I think that would get a good discussion here.

[Penni]

[otaku_rose]

welp also apparently a fire storm I awaken

[otaku_rose]

OMFG this is what I'm planning on doing.. Please everyone I was trying to be helpful... keyword "helpful"

[elyss]

Sorry I just didn't want you to stress too hard over it if it was avoidable. Tags were something I struggled heavily with when I first got into writing. Your resource is great and I've used it in the past actually!

[therosesword]

Lol, I was going to opine on this but I see everyone else has so I'll move along.

[vothnthorvaldson]

Nah, just some discussion on a good old controversial topic
Sorry if it was too brutal. I don't see anyone here who intended to be agressive. I think it's more about warning you that it may be a loss of time as most of us probably went through that already

[otaku_rose]

Omg... please thank you​

[otaku_rose]

...I guess, its a tool, its free, use when you need it. That's all I have to say lol

[otaku_rose]

its ok. I literally did not know what I was doing apparently.. I was just opening it and thought oh this would be nice to share... little did I know what I was actually doing

[domisotto]

Oh, please, don’t worry. It’s a stylistic thing... one of those silly issues. Oxford Comma and Present Tense are the other favorite themes lol

[nostalgicroxas]

I'm skipping over any negativity in this thread and saying thank you for this resource. I sometimes find it hard to think of other words to use when I don't want to use "Said". "Coaxed" is one I don't think I've used in a long while. I'm definitely bookmarking this as a resource to skim over later.

[therosesword]

Well, I said I wasn't going to say anything, but then I thought... a few of you might find this a bit amusing (I really like the last one):

Elmore LeonardElmore Leonard > Quotes

Elmore Leonard quotes Showing 1-30 of 105
“Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing

1. Never open a book with weather.
2. Avoid prologues.
3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said”…he admonished gravely.
5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

[joannekwan]

Always great to expand one's vocabulary!
I will say though when I read a particularly good dialogue tag in a book, I will save it for later special use in my own work.

That being said. I will add that sometimes dialogue tags aren't even necessary! Actions are always another option.
Note that action tags use periods though instead of commas. For example:

John pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well damn it all!"

Or when you have a banter between two people, you can start with a couple tags for establishing purposes, and then just go back and forth without them.

Mary flashed him a smile. "Good morning!"
"Mornin'," Abe replied.
"It's nice weather out."
"Sure is!"
"Oh, to be at the beach would be a dream right now!"
"Got that right."

[Kelheor]

You may say readers won't notice you use "said" 95% of the time, but yeah, yeah we do. I am saying that as a person who recently finished 500 something pages of a book (by a famous fantasy author) who, I think, took close to heart the advice to not use anything except for "said", or who is just not flowery with his language by default, and yes YES is was not a lot of fun to read "said" after every line of direct speech