This topic is Very Inspiring to all teachers.
I have been telling my students about words lik said, bad, good, like are all dead for us since the students are grown now. Very Inspiring Title!
Nov 17, 2008
Said -- Or Not Said by: Audrey
I wish you had written more to explain what you mean. Sometimes, a writer should use something other than said.
"Help, me!" she screamed as she fell over the cliff, carries a more likely picture than does, "Help me," she said as she fell over the cliff.
But in many cases, using nothing but quotation marks to show that you have changed speakers is the mark of the skillful writer. The point is to make your meaning as clear as possible while hiding your craft from the reader.
A reader should not be plowing through a text as if it were thesaurus for the word said. That takes the attention from the real meaning, which is how the dialogue reveals character and moves the story forward.
In my editing, I spend much more time removing words like said, answered, asked, stated, etc. than I do replacing said with anything at all.
