Here’s something I get asked about a lot; use of the word ‘said’.
It’s a bit of a boring word, isn’t it? At school we were all encouraged to find alternative words.
You can have groaned, demanded, sighed, grumbled, and so many more… but if you can, it’s better to show the feeling somehow in the text/description of your character, instead of saying it. (The caveat is if your character is using a tone of voice you can’t describe, e.g. shouted or whispered.)
Here’s an example:
- “You can have it then,” he sighed.
- His shoulders drooped and he sighed. “You can have it, then,” he said.
The latter one gives us a better picture, I’m sure you’d agree.
Have a read of some really good novels, and get inspired by the authors. Do they use ‘said’ a lot? What other words do they use?
If you want to read any of my books, here they are! You can order them from any bookshop, or direct from Dernier Publishing in the UK.
Have fun with this, and see you next week,
Janet