˒⠀S O T T . . . 𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙳𝙸𝙸𝙰𝙲
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❛ 𝑾𝑬𝑳𝑪𝑶𝑴𝑬 TO THE 𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑳
𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑾, 𝑯𝑶𝑷𝑬 YOU'RE WEARING
YOUR 𝑩𝑬𝑺𝑻 CLOTHES. ❜
said is actually dead! ━━ no. 002
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IF ONE MORE PERSON ONLY USES THE WORD SAID WHEN DESCRIBING DIALOGUE IN A BOOK ONE MORE TIME, I'M GOING TO SCREAM. Please, for the love of my eyes and sanity, be descriptive. Also, I am aware this has been discussed numerous times on Wattpad, but I'm still going to address it because some of you still haven't gotten the memo.
Now, hold your horses before you call me a hypocrite because I know I am guilty as hell of using said excessively before. If you're a writer, there's a 99.99999% chance you are too.
It's just a word that people use when writing dialogue; it's simple and nearly invisible to the reader's eye. The definition of said is to "utter words so as to convey information, an opinion, a feeling or intention, or an instruction." Since we're already so familiar with the word, when we read, the word is barely even registered in our minds when we see it. It's practically invisible. We only register who is speaking, not how they're speaking — how they're saying something.
When writing, you should want your readers to know how a character is talking — how they're expressing themselves in conversation. Of course, it's okay to use said here and there, but it shouldn't be used every time someone speaks. Some readers want to feel the emotion — feel the suspense, apprehension, anger, and happiness in the character's voice. They want to connect with who is speaking and be able to get sucked into the conversation.
I try my best to not use said as much as possible. For some chapters or scenes, I want there to be suspense and tension, and using other words for describing how someone is talking helps.
So, down below, I have constructed a list of words/verbs you can use other than said and organized them based on emotion/reactions/or scenarios. A few of the words are repeated, but that's because they can be used for various emotions or reactions.
━━ 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 ・・
Stated, spoke, remarked, reported, added, commented.
━━ 𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗜𝗟𝗬 ・・
Rejoiced, laughed, joked, giggled, sang, cheered, smirked, marveled, chimed, beamed, gleamed, lilted, chuckled, smiled.
━━ 𝗦𝗔𝗗𝗟𝗬 ・・
Cried, sobbed, bawled, whined, agonized, wept, blubbered, mourned, sniveled, mumbled, wailed.
━━ 𝗙𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 ・・
Groaned, moaned, grumbled, ranted, sighed.
━━ 𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗟𝗬 ・・
Shouted, screamed, yelled, raged, seethed, hissed, fumed, retorted, miffed, thundered, snapped, barked, roared, ranted, bellowed, sneered, demanded, ordered, growled, grumbled, argued, snarled.
━━ 𝗜𝗡 𝗣𝗔𝗜𝗡 ・・
Barked, cried out, cried, screamed, groaned, shrieked, yelped, howled, wailed, choked out, gasped.
━━ 𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗥 ・・
Quaked, stammered, shuddered, quivered, trembled, stuttered, gulped, gasped, croaked.
━━ 𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗗𝗟𝗬 ・・
Shouted, belted, yelled, called, exclaimed, boomed.
━━ 𝗜𝗡 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 ・・
Empathized, accepted, consoled, comforted, agreed, nodded, crooned, sympathized.
━━ 𝗕𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗬 ・・
Ordered, insisted, bossed, demanded, preached, dictated, corrected, professed, commanded, proclaimed, instructed, lectured.
━━ 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗘𝗧𝗟𝗬 ・・
Mumbled, murmured, whispered, muttered.
━━ 𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗟𝗬 ・・
Thought, wondered, pondered.
━━ 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 ・・
Asked, inquired, requested, begged, interjected, interrupted.
━━ 𝗔𝗦 𝗔𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗪𝗘𝗥 ・・
Answered, responded, replied, acknowledged, explained, rejoined, retorted.
━━ 𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗦 ・・
Breathed, blurted, admitted, confessed, emitted, implored, pleaded, wearied, struggled, shrugged, entreated, assured, guessed, reasoned, scolded, taunted, advocated, affirmed, teased, warned, accused, snickered, addressed, remembered, suggested, encouraged, began, started, advised, paused, hinted, implied, apologized, promised, elaborated, decided, wished, approved, denied, appealed to, gushed, articulated, threatened, spat, assumed, continued, lied, pointed out, complained, voiced, told, informed, mentioned, cackled, grunted, peeped, squeaked, chortled, dared, blabbed, disclosed, challenged, cursed, shared, echoed, exploded, finished, instructed, hummed, jested, hypothesized, fretted, insinuated, huffed, confirmed.
Gawked, denied, reassured, divulged, proposed, commented, bragged, droned on, coaxed, asserted, offered, quoted, praised, grinned, coughed, boasted, urged, prayed, bargained, claimed, snorted, hesitated, mocked, countered, contributed, reminded, rebuked, quipped, pipped, recalled, screeched, volunteered, proceeded, cautioned, chirped, noted, exaggerated, objected, mused, revealed, ruled, stipulated, stressed.
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❛ YOU 𝑪𝑨𝑵'𝑻 𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑩𝑬 THE DOOR
ON 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑾𝑨𝒀 TO THE 𝚂𝙺𝚈. ❜
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