Said, Said, Said.

by Natalie
(England)

I used to struggle a lot to replace 'said' with more interesting, or more useful verbs. I find it helps if you write out a list of all the 'said' words you can think of. Read a book just to find the different words, and add them to the list.
I did this one night and I found that I had over 50 words just off the top of my head.
So when I need to replace a word, I just whip out my list, and look it over for something appropriate.

Comments for Said, Said, Said.

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Jul 19, 2011
 I love said.
by: Anonymous

'Said' works well. It's a very dull word and that may be the reason it works. It's so dull that the reader doesn't focus to much on it...which is great because it allows your reader to be driven by your great dialogue and not your ability to find twins for the word 'said.'

In fact, avoid using any word when 'said' does the job!

This is not just my opinion...its a highly agreeable theory that editors and publishers alike tend to go with.
Nov 06, 2010
 Said, Said, Said.
by: Michael LaRocca

There's nothing wrong with "said." Use the others sparingly or you risk pulling the reader out of the story. "Said" does its job and fades into the background.

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