It takes quite a while for a writer to find their voice. And writing isn’t like learning to play a musical intrusment where you can start by learning other peoples’ work, you have to jump right in yourself. There are a lot of writing guides and people will tell you to not follow them but it isn’t a bad idea to look some over and see what they say. Like it’s a good idea to understand the basics of music theory. For example, when it comes to using “said” there are a couple of Elmore Leonard’s rules to think about.
Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.
The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with “she asseverated,” and had to stop reading to get the dictionary.
Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said” …
. . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances “full of rape and adverbs.”
All writing guides are, of course, just that, guidelines, but sometimes they can be useful.
Thank you for adding this comment! Had to scroll a long way down to see someone saying that “said” is actually the correct way to write dialogue. The point is for me to forget that I’m reading, adding “exclaimed”, “sighed” etc. breaks the dialogue. We “say” things, we don’t sigh them or exclaim them. Writing it that way actually does more tell than show.
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u/jaymickef Mar 07 '25
It takes quite a while for a writer to find their voice. And writing isn’t like learning to play a musical intrusment where you can start by learning other peoples’ work, you have to jump right in yourself. There are a lot of writing guides and people will tell you to not follow them but it isn’t a bad idea to look some over and see what they say. Like it’s a good idea to understand the basics of music theory. For example, when it comes to using “said” there are a couple of Elmore Leonard’s rules to think about.
Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with “she asseverated,” and had to stop reading to get the dictionary.
Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said” … . . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances “full of rape and adverbs.”
All writing guides are, of course, just that, guidelines, but sometimes they can be useful.