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/lit/ - Literature

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16751191 No.16751191 [Reply] [Original]

>listening to michael crichten audiobooks
>[character] said
>[character] said
>[character] said
>[character] said
>[character] said

Jesus, hasn't this guy ever heard of a thesaurus? Even when a character asks a question, he uses "said".

>> No.16751207
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16751207

>[character] bellowed

>> No.16751239

"Holmes!" ejaculated Watson.

>> No.16751243

Avoidance of "said" is one of the hallmarks of a shit writer if done without cognizance of the dynamic. When you cycle endlessly through more evocative synonyms for "said," it eventually just gets ridiculous, because nobody actually says anything anymore. If an author is said-shy, every character eventually needs to bloviate or pontificate or ejaculate or grumble ad nauseum. It draws attention away from the things that are actually being said when the author is obsessed with finding the specific synonym which perfectly encapsulates whatever it is he's looking for. It's lazy writing. Don't tell your reader with a thesaurus the way a character says something. Show it from the content of their speech. Your writing should be such that when a character is bloviating, they discover it organically for themselves. If you do well at it, it'll be the only possible interpretation they could come to. It's just a more rewarding experience for a reader than being bombarded by a thesaurus.

>> No.16751252

>>16751243
this

>> No.16751254

>>16751243
great response anon. ill remember this.

>> No.16751270

>>16751191
More like Michael Cretin amirite

>> No.16751275

>>16751239
Watson, please don't ejaculate in my presence.

>> No.16751296

>>16751243
Fully agree with this.

However, "said" should be used as little as possible. I find it absurd that many writers deem it necessary to put "he/she/character said" after every sentence in a dialogue between two people.

>"Hello," Martha said.
>"Hello," Mark said.
>"That's a nice pair of boots you have there," Martha said.
>"Thank you," Mark said.
>"Where did you get them?", Martha said.
>"I borrowed them from my neighbour," Mark said.

YES WE FUCKING KNOW THEY'RE FUCKING SAYING THESE THINGS IN THAT FUCKING ORDER WHAT THE FUCK IS THE POINT OF SAYING SAID THE WHOLE FUCKING TIME? JUST FUCKING INTRODUCE US TO THE CHARACTERS AND LET THE CONVERSATION FLOW NATURALLY JESUS BALLSACKING CHRIST

>> No.16751390

>>16751296
Just write the sentences as quotes without any note of who's speaking. If you're a good writer it will be obvious which characters are delivering which lines.

>> No.16751399

>>16751390
Exactly my point.

>> No.16751446

>>16751399
Yeah, the best-case scenario is probably one instance of a character explicitly saying something and the rest being derived purely from context. Somewhat ironically, I think this is also the best way to slip in one of your pet synonyms every once in a very rare while without harassing your reader. I think Plato's dialogues in the Republic are actually a pretty great example of this.

>> No.16751498

"Et tu, Brute?" cream pied Ceasar.

>> No.16751541

>>16751296
Nigga what kind of books are you reading? I never see that at all. Most of the time its the basic:

>"Hello," Martha said.
>"Hello," Mark replied.
>"That's a blah blah."
>"Thank you."
>etc etc

The author establishes the speakers and exchanges between them without tagging everything all the time. I have never seen your example before at all. Seems like something you'd see from selfpublished books.

>> No.16751879

>>16751243
It's spelled nauseam. Don't use latin if you don't know latin, pseud