Judging a Character by a Reaction

In one week, I will be taking my children (ages 6 and 9) and heading up north to visit family. We're going to go the long way. The VERY long way... by train. That's right, a 46 hour journey from San Antonio to Saratoga.

I got two very different reactions when I shared my travel plans with the family members I'm going to visit.

Family member #1: "Are you sure? You'll be so tired when you get here. Do want some money so you could fly instead? The trains are usually late, you know. Are you sure you want to do that?"

Family member #2: "What a fantastic idea! You are going to have such an adventure. The kids will love it! I love travelling by train."

I bet you could form judgements about the speakers based just on the above reactions. And you'd probably be right. This is why dialogue is so critical in writing... it reveals SO much without having to tell the reader specifically.

Alternative Dialogue Tags

If you are reading the blogs, you are probably up on one of the number one rules of the craft: Thou shalt only use said as a dialogue tag. This is a good rule, one of the best. Nothing screams amatuer like dialogue that is grinned, smiled, or expostulated.

Except...

There's always an exception. In one of my chapters, the dialogue happens in a dark room. Therefore, emotion and nuance can not be shown in body language. While I had to convey most of the feelings in the actual words that were spoken, I needed a dialogue tag that would demonstrate the physical way the dialogue was delivered.

And that's the second part of the rule. If the tag indicates how the speaker is speaking, then it can be used (SPARINGLY).

Here's a list of dialogue tags that convey physical properties of how dialogue was delivered.

Alternatives to said
Babbled
Barked
Bawled
Begged
Bellowed
Blurted
Breathed
Called
Crooned
Crowed
Declared
Demanded
Drawled
Echoed
Exclaimed
Faltered
Groaned
Growled
Grumbled
Hissed
Hollered
Howled
Implored
Mumbled
Murmured
Muttered
Pleaded
Raged
Roared
Sang
Screamed
Shouted
Shrieked
Snarled
Sobbed
Spluttered
Stammered
Stuttered
Swore
Thundered
Wailed
Whimpered
Whined
Whispered
Yelled
Yelped

 

But you should probably use said.