Hello writers & frenz —
Since we’re in the run-up to Nanowrimo, tonight’s low-density, relaxed episode is courtesy of whomever first brought us this Keable guidance for newb creative writers. The dialogue section is great for argument! Our arguing, I mean. ‘Cos when it comes to what character is speaking, we here usually say to just give characters a bit’o’business (small gesture or action) natural in the moment, or that helps reveal personality or mood, rather than a repetitious “said” or alternative. So I bolded the bits we’d say is rong.
Meself, ‘tho’, I like adverbs if the mood is unclear, or when the words belie mood — in fiction as in life, there’s often no choice but say what’s not at alllll how we really think/feel. So those might be worth cluing the readers in. (Or not?)
Also, I have an inherited fondness for what Keable calls “outlandish/artificial” terms (e.g., “fondness”!! :D) — I think they help when a character’s vocal tone is going over the top at times the exact wording doesn’t show it.
Maybe that’s just rebel me! ;-)
Onward, paraphrasing for length & clarity, here’s what’s to agree or disagree with Keable re dialogue:
Vary the verbs that tag the speech. Avoiding repetition of say ("he said," "she said") is part of the problem that any technique can sound monotonous and artificial if overused. Still, the dullness of repeating "he said" is usually better than outlandish or artificial tags like "he opined", "she queried".
In the below list of “said” alternatives —use thesaurus, dictionary, and imagination for more— many would work only in particular contexts. A metaphor (twitter, erupt) can be effective if the context is right. (We usually say a character can’t cough, laugh, or smile a line of dialogue. But maybe?) and writing "he whined" is less effective than showing him whining.
Or whinging. :D Here are the alternatives:
accuse ■ admit ■ affirm ■ allege ■ argue ■ avow ■ bawl ■ beg ■ bellow ■ boast ■ cackle ■ cajole ■ call out ■ carp ■ chant ■ chide ■ claim ■ concede ■ confess ■ conjecture ■ coo ■ cry ■ declare ■ demand ■ deny ■ evade ■explain ■ fret ■ fuss ■ greet ■ groan ■ growl ■ grumble ■ grunt ■ gush ■ hint ■ hiss ■ huff ■ inquire ■ insist ■ interject ■ jeer ■ joke ■ kid ■ lament ■ lie ■ mimic ■ murmur ■ mutter ■ nag ■ needle ■ note ■ object ■ observe ■ plead ■ protest ■ purr ■ rage ■ rail ■ rave ■ recall ■ remark ■ roar ■ scold ■ shriek ■ sigh ■ snarl ■ snicker ■ snort ■ spout ■ squawk ■ squeal ■ suggest ■ taunt ■ tease ■ vow ■ warble ■ whimper ■ whisper ■ yammer ■ yelp ■
Challenge!
Have some ideas about what’s to agree or disagree with up there? Or when to leave an ambiguous mood be? Or if you think there’s more at the Keable pdf worth mention? Or other stuff about dialogue?
Meanwhile, write a dialogue scene —number of characters your choice— experimenting with tagging some lines of dialogue in ways you’d ordinarily never! Or feel free to chew the scenery and pile’em on! :)
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P.S. I forget if we’ve mentioned recently that a lot of us In WriteOn “do” NaNoWriMo without formally signing up or even having the same 50,000 word goal. Instead, we run parallel right here, listing participants and their goals, signed-up or not, with weekly tallies, and discussion in the thread, such as for problems we’ve run into, or weird experiences we’re having! For the formal facts, here’s the wikipedia page on the National Novel Writing Month organization, with links to the adult and young-people’s programs. Experienced do’ers please comment on anything you’ve found comes in handy, be it for formal participation or for just here.