said vs asked

justAnotherWriter · Mar 12, 2010

Hi all,

I'm curious as to people's preference. Between the following, which do you use and why:

A. "How much longer?" she asked.

B. "How much longer?" she said.

entrancia · Mar 12, 2010

It depends how you want to convey the way she's speaking. If you use 'ask,' it seems like she's using a more inquisitive tone to me, but if you use 'said,' it seems more flat and is more likely to be associated with disinterest or bluntness.

SWest · Mar 12, 2010

Some end-of-day blither for your consideration:

"Asked" is a light-sounding word, so it makes your tone go Up.

"Said", of course, is pronounced "sed"...a low tone that makes speech sound more flat. (aside: why does a speaker give a speech?)

"Asked" is implied, of course, by the question mark itself...strictly speaking, it is not necessary unless someone has not spoken for a while or you need to reintroduce someone to a conversation. "Said" might be used to indicate some kind of inflection.

If you opt for "said" with a question, you should have a compelling reason that matches the dialogue. It is more rhetorical.

Ex:
Todd appeared at Tanya's elbow, "They're just getting the plane ready now."
"How much longer?" she asked.
"Not long." Tanya glanced at her watch again, and resumed tapping her foot.

Ex:
Georgia rolled her eyes, "Do you think he can get some cope today?" she said under her breath as she heaved against the bumper.

Ex:
...and Janis had half a mind to hike up alone.
"How much longer?"
"Mebee an hour or two," once again Hank squeaked tobacco through his teeth, this time wiping green spittle off his chin.

JayG · Mar 12, 2010

Tags are often used to tell/remind us who’s speaking. If we already know, because it’s that character’s turn to speak, or because of their word choice or viewpoint, you don’t need it.

And, you seldom need to have someone ask a question, then explain to the reader that what they just read was a question.

Tags can be, as in the post above this one, the body-language part of the dialog, to expand on it.

They can also be a form of punctuation, to show time is passing, and break up a piece of dialog that might be too much like a speech, much like the character taking a breath for effect:

“I love you,” Bunny said. “I’ve always loved you.”

benbradley · Mar 12, 2010

I vote for said, because asked is redundant (as already mentioned), and anything other than a plain old ordinary said has the slight taste of a Tom Swifty to me.

WildScribe · Mar 12, 2010

benbradley said:
I vote for said, because asked is redundant (as already mentioned), and anything other than a plain old ordinary said has the slight taste of a Tom Swifty to me.

Unless... they're... asking instead of saying.

If it has a question mark, and is not rhetorical, they aren't saying something, they're asking. If you think that putting "asked" is too redundant, then use no speech marker at all, or just convey the speaker with an action.

ex:
"Are we there yet?" Angelica slumped in her seat, mindful not to kick the back of Father's chair again.

third person · Mar 12, 2010

Blimey, this isn't covered in the FAQ or the two ask Uncle Jim threads?

Al Ross · Mar 12, 2010

I now prefer to try put less said or asked. I only used it if it's not clear who is talking or there are more than 2 talking at the same time. Also on the occasion when I want to describe body language.

My first book is full of "said". It started to irritate me, so I thought if it irritates me, as the writer, it would the reader too. I have a lot of rewriting to do with book 1.

Repeating words get irritating. In book 1, I used the word "Towards" too much, now I can't stand the word.

Oh yea, I prefer to use said. It blends in better than asked.

Terie · Mar 13, 2010

Here's a question for those who prefer 'said' in a dialogue tag after a question: can you post some examples from published books? Because I'm fairly certain that it's not done that way very often in actual books, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's just not done in the genres I read most.

Of course, it's usually better to avoid the tag entirely, but in a conversation with more than two people, it's sometimes unavoidable; not every bit of dialogue needs action (especially in a fast-paced conversation), but tags have to be provided to make clear who's speaking each line. So without getting into any of the other issues, I'm curious to see some examples from real, published books of someone asking a question with a simple '(name) said' as the tag.

(Not that I'm going to change what I do, because I'm certain that '(name) asked' is far-and-away the most common usage. OTOH, I'm also certain that using '(name) said' for a question is NOT enough on its own to garner a rejection letter.

)

shaldna · Mar 13, 2010

I was taught that if it's a question you don't use said.

But I was also taught that if there is a question mark that you don't need asked.

Terie · Mar 13, 2010

shaldna said:
But I was also taught that if there is a question mark that you don't need asked.

If there are five people talking, you don't need the '(name) asked' to distinguish between 'saying' and 'asking'. You need it to distinguish between Manny, Mo, Jack, Tweedle-Dee, and Tweedle-Dum.

illiterwrite · Mar 13, 2010

If it's a question, I always used asked. Because it's a question, not a statement.

Linda Adams · Mar 13, 2010

My preference would be whatever fits naturally in with the story. (Meaning, don't overthink it.)

seun · Mar 13, 2010

illiterwrite said:
If it's a question, I always used asked. Because it's a question, not a statement.

That's what the ? is for.

seun · Mar 13, 2010

Terie said:
Here's a question for those who prefer 'said' in a dialogue tag after a question: can you post some examples from published books? Because I'm fairly certain that it's not done that way very often in actual books, but maybe I'm wrong.

Pretty much any book I've ever read.

Al Ross · Mar 13, 2010

Another thing about said. Do you put it before the dialog or after? Or both? I try to mix it up. I would like which one is proper so that by the time I start rewriting I may change a few things. (if needed)

shaldna · Mar 13, 2010

Terie said:
If there are five people talking, you don't need the '(name) asked' to distinguish between 'saying' and 'asking'. You need it to distinguish between Manny, Mo, Jack, Tweedle-Dee, and Tweedle-Dum.

and this.

Wayne K · Mar 13, 2010

I use both

Wayne K · Mar 13, 2010

Not at the same time of course

Danthia · Mar 13, 2010

You could technically say asked is redundant, because you have a ? at the end of the sentence and that means someone asked a question. But like so many rules of writing, when it works it works. There are times when asked is a good tag, and a preferable one to said.

Sometimes one just sounds better over the other for rhythm or flow. Or you have several people speaking in the scene and all those saids are feeling repetitive, and you don't want to have everyone speaking and then doing something descriptive to denote the speaker. (That often drags the pacing down and makes the prose clunky)

So, for me...

Either works depending on the situation. Just like you wouldn't tag every bit of dialog with said, don't tag every bit of question dialog with asked. Use whatever works best for the line and the scene.

jairey · Mar 13, 2010

I agree that "said" does become virtually invisible when reading, but, if your book is going to be turned into an audio book, it certainly isn't. A couple of my favorite authors seem to be overusing "said" when I listen to their books. Not when I'm reading them, mind. But since any decent audio recording artist "acts" the dialogue, the saids can become really -- obvious. As in a two person dialogue where every speech has a said after it. Invisible when I read the story, though! As to "said" or "asked" -- if you're wondering, use "said." IMHO of course.

NeuroFizz · Mar 13, 2010

I agree with Ben and Seun (and others)--that having "asked" following a question mark is an unnecessary redundancy. But this is a personal preference, even though it's a strong one for me. What other people do with it is their business. If I beta read for someone, I'll mention it as a strange redundancy but leave it to the author to address or to not address. The best way to deal with dialogue tags, in general, is to use them to identity who is talking which means many, if not most, can be eliminated from a stretch of dialogue. If more than two people are talking, it's requires a little more finesse, and one tool is the dialogue tag. I can't think of many times in all of my stories that I've used a tag other than "said," and I specifically avoid use of tags that do the work of conveyance that the dialogue itself should do.

Margarita Skies · Mar 13, 2010

entrancia said:
It depends how you want to convey the way she's speaking. If you use 'ask,' it seems like she's using a more inquisitive tone to me, but if you use 'said,' it seems more flat and is more likely to be associated with disinterest or bluntness.

Oh, I had no idea about this! Thank you so much! Your response helped me, too.

Awesome.

bonitakale · Mar 13, 2010

I would not use 'said' for a question, unless there were some dramatic reason. If a tag is necessary, as Terie points out, to distinguish the speaker, I use 'asked.'

I just picked up a novel and found a page with a lot of questions. Most of them aren't directly attributed; the one that is, uses 'asked.'

I don't think 'asked' after a question mark is any more redundant than 'said' after a period.

ishtar'sgate · Mar 13, 2010

JayG said:
Tags are often used to tell/remind us who’s speaking. If we already know, because it’s that character’s turn to speak, or because of their word choice or viewpoint, you don’t need it.

This. I wouldn't use tags unless you absolutely need to.

said vs asked

justAnotherWriter

entrancia

creeper

SWest

In the garden...

JayG

benbradley

It's a doggy dog world

WildScribe

Slave to the Wordcount

third person

She blinded me--with magic!

Al Ross

Terie

Writer is as Writer does

shaldna

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

Terie

Writer is as Writer does

illiterwrite

Linda Adams

Soldier, Storyteller

seun

Horror Man

seun

Horror Man

Al Ross

shaldna

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

Wayne K

Wayne K

Danthia

jairey

NeuroFizz

The grad students did it

Margarita Skies

bonitakale

ishtar'sgate

living in the past