At a meeting of the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Society (MinnSpec) critique group, a veteran said that I had “said bookisms” in my story. In the days when the Hardy Boys and Barsoom books were written, it was common for new authors to avoid the use of the word “said”. They even had a book of alternatives. However, this often results in the author sounding purple--like Frasier Crane at his most presumptuous trying to impress someone. At worst, you end up using a word with other associations and turning your work into a “Tom Swifty.” In Hardy Boys, Biff often “ejaculated” in public. Authors like Stephen King and Elmor Leonard advise that you should avoid all but the most basic invisible words: said, asked, replied, and sometimes whispered. Shouting is effectively conveyed by the use of the exclamation point (!). Of course, there are always times when you want to pick exactly the right tool for the job. In military fiction, one could make a case for words like ordered and reported. A dying man with a punctured lung might rasp or wheeze, but these should be the exception rather than the rule.
I made my own list of synonyms for “said” and taught my editing program to flag them. Below are the first 188 I came up with. Other more physical variants like “spat, giggled, chuckled, laughed, shrugged, or smiled” aren’t considered valid dialog tags at all.
acceded, accused, added, admitted, admonished, advised, agreed, alluded, amended, announced, answered, apologized, argued, asked, asserted, assured, averred,
barked, bellowed, bemoaned, berated, blurted, blustered, bragged,
cajoled, cautioned, chanted, chastened, chastized, cheered, chided, claimed, coaxed, commanded, complained, conceded, concluded, confessed, confided, confirmed, continued, corrected, countered, cried, croaked, crooned,
cursed,
declared, decided, decreed, deduced, demanded, demurred, directed, drawled,
echoed, ejaculated, elaborated, elucidated, embellished, encouraged, enthused, espoused, evinced, exclaimed, explained, exposited, expounded,
fibbed, finked, fretted, fussed,
gasped, gloated, goaded, griped, groaned, growled, grumbled, grunted, guessed,
hinted, hissed,
implied, inquired, insinuated, insisted, interceded, interjected, interrupted, intoned,
japed, jeered, jested, joked,
lamented, lectured, lied, lobbied,
marveled, motioned, mewled, moaned, mumbled, murmured, mused, muttered,
noted,
objected, observed, offered, opined, ordered,
persisted, pleaded, pontificated, posited, prayed, pressed, proclaimed, proffered, promised, prompted, proposed, protested, purred,
queried, quibbled, quipped,
railed, ranted, rasped, reasoned, recited, recommended, reflected, reiterated, related, relayed, remarked, reminded, repeated, reported, requested, responded, retorted, roared, rumbled,
sang, scoffed, scolded, screamed, screeched, shouted, shrieked, snapped, sobbed, soothed, squealed, stammered, stated, stipulated, stressed, stuttered, suggested, summarized, swore,
taunted, teased, temporized, threatened,
urged, uttered,
ventured, volunteered, vowed,
waffled, wailed, warned, wheedled, wheezed, whimpered, whined, wondered,
yammered, yelled,
