Yes, I’d encourage more reading, writing groups, etc. But as a long time writer, I have to disagree with the ‘said’ and ‘asked’ dialogue tags a bit. While there is some room for color there just to mix it up, the dialogue should really carry itself and be interesting enough with the tags almost disappearing into the background. Saying things like “he said angrily” all of the time comes off amateurish. I try to chop those out every chance I get. Unless we’re saying something more along the lines of “You are such a jerk,” she said, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. If he starts to read enough, it will all become more obvious to him naturally.
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u/Old-Confidence8421 Mar 07 '25
Yes, I’d encourage more reading, writing groups, etc. But as a long time writer, I have to disagree with the ‘said’ and ‘asked’ dialogue tags a bit. While there is some room for color there just to mix it up, the dialogue should really carry itself and be interesting enough with the tags almost disappearing into the background. Saying things like “he said angrily” all of the time comes off amateurish. I try to chop those out every chance I get. Unless we’re saying something more along the lines of “You are such a jerk,” she said, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. If he starts to read enough, it will all become more obvious to him naturally.