Word Substitution...

I wouldn't recommend either, at least not as punctuated. Chuckles, laughs, and guffaws are sounds -- they're not ways of speaking text. You could do something like:

"Hurry up, Tim!" Jake chuckled and shook his head. "We'll never get to Hertford at this rate!"

Sorry, I just had to add the additional action. Stopping to laugh between those sentences just seems odd.

Harry Douthwaite said:

Hmmm... It's an idea. I'll give it some thought. Really I'm looking for an alternative word for "chuckle".

Click to expand...

Said.

pangalactic said:

Said.

Click to expand...

POTD.

If you want to replace "chuckled", then try "chortled". It is almost always a mistake to used things like that as dialogue tags. It might be more effective to write, "Hurry up, Tim!" Jake said with a chuckle, "We'll never get to Hertford at this rate!"

But that brings up the question why he is laughing at never getting to Hertford. Is there something that makes that funny? If he is impatient, then why don't you say something gives that impression.

You're using chuckled as a dialogue tag, a major no-no in modern fiction. I'm not a strict said/asked dialogue tagger, but chuckled or chortled or guffawed shouldn't serve as a tag.

How about this: Jake chuckled. "Hurry up, Tim! We'll never get to Hertford at this rate!"

Doing it this way you get the action across--Jake chuckling or whatever you decide on. After that comes his dialogue, unbroken and not awkward, and we know that he is speaking because of the simple sentence placed before the dialogue.

Harry,

Mine is "laughed." I have to edit it out of almost every chapter. Use "said," "whispered," and "asked" almost exclusively for dialog tags. Then add actions in a separate paragraph--even if those 'graphs are tiny.

Warm regards,

Lucie

http://www.visuwords.com/ is a handy online tool you might want to bookmark.

How about said? Why the exclamation points at the end of both sentences?

My first foray into the grammar forum (normally a mystery/thriller/suspense poster).

As it's written, without context, it sounds to me like Jake considers getting to Hertford to be an unattainable goal anyway, which is why he sees Tim's actions as amusing.

I'm reading "chuckled" as a bit mean-spirited. "Snickered" would be even more so.

I try to use exclamation points only for one-word interjections and for shouting.

"Hurry up, Tim!" Jake shouted across the car park with a laugh. "We'll never get to Hertford at this rate!"

Harry Douthwaite said:

I have replaced "chuckled loudly" with "guffawed" - as in a loud, unrestrained burst of laughter. I think it sounds better.

Click to expand...

How can someone chuckle loudly in the first place? A chuckle is relatively quiet by definition.

Unless you're writing a play, avoid the stage directions. 'Said' is what you need here.

Unless you're writing for kids, ditch the dialogue tags and the exclamation marks.

Even then, you've already used more exclamation marks than you should find in an entire chapter.