Prisimpad: A Guide to Wattpad, Writing, and Whatever

ON WRITING: Learn to Love Said

If you're reading this and haven't self-taught yourself, congratulations, you've had an English class! Now in that English class there was probably time spent on creative writing, during which time you heard some variation of "be more creative in your writing" in reference to using said for a dialogue tag. Or you've been flat out told said is dead. That is wrong oh man is that wrong. If you're still in school I'm not suggesting going back to your teacher and yell at them because a bunny on the internet said they're an idiot. As my dad used to say every time I complained about something in school, cooperate and graduate. In the post-school real world, said is a wonderful word. It is very much alive and well, sipping a Mai Tai in Maui.

There are some writers who embrace the belief that said is dead, and maybe you're one of them. But I disagree with that belief. Said is a wonderful word that should be embraced and follow your dialogue (or go before it) 80-90% of the time. All your stated, admitted, noted, etcetera are what need to die. I'm not saying never use them, it is okay to mix it up, but the majority of your tags (when you have a tag) should be said or asked or whispered. That's it.

Why is that? Because said is invisible to the reader. No, really, it is. Think about it for a moment. How often did you notice said when reading a book? Unless you're actually looking for it, you don't notice it. The mind will skip over it and still know that so-and-so was speaking. But those fancy "creative" words? Those stick out like a sore thumb. Sticking out isn't always a good thing.

In a perfect world, you'll never need a tag at all because your descriptors will determine who is speaking, but that's hard. Really hard. So plan to have some tags in there somewhere or else risk losing the reader. I once read a book on FictionPress where not only wasn't there a single dialogue tag, but there also wasn't a single line of description during the entire conversation. It went for a couple pages doing something like this:

"How are you?"

"I'm doing well, you?"

"Great!"

"Good to hear. Isn't this weather wonderful?"

"Why yes, it's amazing."

So forth and so on for multiple pages with the only description telling me who was speaking being before the conversation and after the conversation ended. A book needs to be a balance of chatter and description. Now I struggle at finding that balance myself, I'm always leaning toward one or the other, so I won't sit here and pretend that I'm good at it myself. I know that with Wattpad's tap dialogue only stories are starting to become a thing, but they're definitely not going to be a thing I embrace. I feel a novel needs to have a balance of descriptions and speech, and the speech won't always be clear without a tag.

But why use mostly said? Why not kill said and let creativity reign in dialogue tags? Well the best way I can do that is by showing you. Forgiving the cheap writing, which conversation reads better to you . . .

Exhibit A:

"Hello," Doug said. "Are you Jonathan?"

"Yes. That would be me."

"Excellent! If you'd like to step into my office, we'll get started. Do you have any questions for me?" Doug asked.

Jonathan leaned in and whispered, "Actually, now that you mention it. I'm having some problems with trout. They keep staring at me and I'm fairly sure they're plotting my murder."

"Trout?" Doug asked. He ran one hand over his chin and turned back to the door shouting, "Anna, cancel all my appointments today!"

Exhibit B:

"Hello," Doug greeted. "Are you Jonathan?"

"Yes. That would be me," Jonathan stated.

"Excellent! If you'd like to step into my office, we'll get started. Do you have any questions for me?" Doug inquired.

Jonathan leaned in and replied, "Actually, now that you mention it. I'm having some problems with trout. They keep staring at me and I'm fairly sure they're plotting my murder."

"Trout?" Doug questioned. He ran one hand over his chin and turned back to the door bellowing, "Anna, cancel all my appointments today!"

Imagine reading several pages of that second sample, you can't tell me that isn't rough to read. You might be thinking "but Prisim, why is replied in there on the bad example? Certainly that's an acceptable tag." Well, yes it is. But at the same time, in my opinion, it's redundant. Redundancy in writing is bad! If Doug asks a question and the next speaker is the reply from Jonathan, the act of him speaking already implies it's a reply, so why state it? Hell even using asked or shouted can be redundant because anything ending with a question mark is clearly asked and an exclamation point can usually imply shouting.

I'll go into proper formatting for dialogue tags, as well as words which cannot be tags in the next chapter. For now, look at your books. Take a conversation that is long and try both where you never use said, where you're "creative." Then replace those fancy words with said or asked. See which one reads better. If you honestly like your "creative" words better, then so be it, but at least you will have given it a try.

Said isn't dead! Long live said!