David said, or said David

I too have seen both and have been told by a playwrite that "said David" is better when in POV. Not sure I agree...

I think its more a readers preference to what they are used to, or how closely they pay attention...

Hi Pepper Jay,

I think it's David said is more commonly used. However, I don't think either way is correct or incorrect. I've seen it both ways.

Usually correct sentence structure with "said" would be, "What," David said or "Let's go," David said. Thus, with the above sentences, a dialogue tag might work better since it is a question.

I am not aware of either being incorrect, but I see the "David said" construction much more often.

I'd go with the second in this particular example, because the first reads too much like something clearly not intended: "What David said."

Pepper Jay said:

Okay, so sometimes a novel will use, "What?" David said or "What?" said David...

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You forgot to include: David said, "What?"

David said is the more common, and less distracting to the reader. This post isn't necessarily an answer to your question, but it explains dialogue "taglines" in a way that I found informative:

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2007/05/he-said-she-shouted-loudly.html

Pepper Jay said:

Okay, so sometimes a novel will use, "What?" David said or "What?" said David.

Which is correct, or commonly used?

Thanks

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I wouldn't use "said David" because it doesn't sound natural, I've never heard anyone say it in real life. Why call undue attention to a dialogue tag.

Just had a bit of a look through some work and I'd write it "What?" David said so obviously that's natural to me.

Silver King said:

You forgot to include: David said, "What?"

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If you're trying to write natural speech - like a character telling a story - that's the one to use. I've never heard a speaker put the attribution after the quote. It's one of those things that's peculiar to the written word.

It's not a matter of "correct". Either is. As a reader, I prefer the "David said" construction most of the time. The reverse tends, for me, to sound pretentious and/or archaic.

The Writing Circle by Corinne Demas uses "said David" and it was beyond annoying to me.

"David said" is better and more natural sounding in my opinion.

If I must use a tag I use "David said".

However, occasionally, for variety, I use "said David".

Just another of my little quirks.

As with so many other issues, be consistent. Pick either said David or David said and stick to just one.

I just pulled two novels off my shelf -one used one method and the other used the other. Didn't adversely affect my enjoyment of either novel one whit.

If - when the manuscript is ready to be published - the house prefers 'said David' instead of 'David said' or vice versa it's dead easy to change and it's not really an issue worth losing any sleep over.

Why my book collection loaded with "said + name". "name + said" is more common? What have I got myself through.

Jean said:

Why my book collection loaded with "said + name". "name + said" is more common? What have I got myself through.

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Are you in the US?

Is consistency really important here? I use both, judging by the sound of it each situation.

For instance, if you have many people in one conversation, and David has the last word, 'said David' seems definitely more appropriate to me.

I'm wondering if there's a difference in US vs. European preferred usage on it. ?

WalkingContradiction said:

Is consistency really important here? I use both, judging by the sound of it each situation.

For instance, if you have many people in one conversation, and David has the last word, 'said David' seems definitely more appropriate to me.

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Why? Not being snarky. I'm honestly curious.

omg something else to worry about...

I think it depends on the dialogue in question and the 'flow' of the story. Whatever sounds or reads better. I looked through my own stories and I use 'David said' most of the time, but when I need emphasis on something, especially at the end of a conversation, I use 'said David.'

I do all this subliminally btw. Thanks for pointing out something else I have to worry/think about.

seun said:

Why? Not being snarky. I'm honestly curious.

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This:

jaksen said:

I looked through my own stories and I use 'David said' most of the time, but when I need emphasis on something, especially at the end of a conversation, I use 'said David.'

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It must be me but I can't see how it adds any emphasis. In any case, I don't think it's a big deal to use either.