In college writing classes, we sit in a tight circle, facing each other. Sometimes, we critique our own works; other times we discuss writing. But one time—and only once—everyone raised their voices against what I suggested.
I disagreed with the author using the word said for every single dialogue tag. I raised my hand and said something like, “It’d be better to mix up the dialogue tags every once in a while. If you use the word said every time, the author is going to skim over it and—”
“That’s the point!” many of my classmates exclaimed at the same time.
My professor even had a smile on his face like my comment was laughable.
But I continued. “If you mix up dialogue tags every once in a while, you could add some more context and emotion to what’s going on. ‘That’s silly,’ he said has a different context than ‘That’s silly,’ he mocked. Using other dialogue tags could add more to the story.”
I think back to that moment from time to time when editing or reading. Do I use certain dialogue tags too much? Should I use the word said more? I definitely don’t agree with having a word to be skimmed over or ignored.
What do you think? Leave a comment below!
Robin LeeAnn 
I’m lucky Robin, I don’t have many dialogue pieces in my poems, but when I do, in typical poetry style, I try not to be repetitive in my dialogue tags…
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Your posts are always so good though! It works!
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my pieces are very short, but i do try to mix it up a bit when writing dialogue
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That’s good though! I think it works for both short and long pieces.
Your work is always great though! I enjoy your posts.
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thank you, robin
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I try to lose as many tags as possible in the edit, the re edit.
“I have a shoebox of them beneath the bed,” he said.
It’s pleasing to set up a dialogue with as little as possible.
Great post!
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Thank you!
And that’s a good idea! Having too many tags can be hard to read, so it’s a good idea to lose many of them.
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I used to mix them up a lot and then learned to write without them for the most part. I use a limited variety with “said” most of all. We want readers to notice the story, not the tags. Like all other parts of writing there are the choices as to how we find the right balance in our craft. Great examples of when using something besides said works.
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Yeah, I agree that finding a right balance is key. It is good to write without them if we can too.
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