Adjectives to describe a ringing telephone?

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Synonyms for rang: buzzed, droned, jangled, reverberated, etc

Bear in mind the character perceiving the phone's ring - it may remind them of something, they may associate the phone or the sound with something - basically how the character perceives things should also give you some ideas of what to say beyond 'the phone rang', if something beyond 'the phone rang' is appropriate.

Depends on what the phone sounds like.

Warbled?

I read a book once where the ringing of the phone was described as "strident bree breeing."

Jangled?

Played a merry little tune.

Buzzed.

Keened.

And what's wrong with stating "the phone rang?" Unless there's something special about that particular phone's ring, it's not really worth going into detail. People know what a ringing telephone sounds like.

Ellie_2014 said:

I'm looking for adjectives to describe a ringing telephone. I'd like to convey the ringing phone in another way than simply stating 'The phone rang'.

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Why? Seriously. Everybody knows how a standard telephone sounds. Why do you need to describe that sound more specifically? No reader is likely to care about such a descriptive embellishment.

caw

Unless it's unusual in some way, like an old 70s style dial phone with a bell, which says something interesting about the setting or the characters, then why is it important to describe how it sounds? More interesting would be to describe the effect it has on the hearer, i.e. does it startle them? Fill them with dread? Are they waiting on a call and they snatch it up before it has a chance to even finish one ring? That would seem more important to the scene.

You can't get much simpler than 'the phone rang'.

Ellie_2014 said:

I guess I wanted to describe it more simply to add to the suspense of the scene. You're right, it'd be more effective to describe the character's reaction.

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If you have set up the situation in terms of suspense, then describing the character's reaction should be enough, i.e., if it's loud, shrill and penetrates their surroundings, it might make them jump out of their skin, whereas if it's a mobile phone that rings with a favourite tune, it may turn into a comedic situation.

Otherwise, 'the phone rang,' is probably enough.

The reader isn't going to care. This is so incidental. Just go basic. "The phone rang" works. The reader isn't going to be amazed if you say this another way. It doesn't really matter.

Depends entirely on what you want to convey:

The phone rang. (Statement of fact, we observe it and move on.)

The phone buzzed. (Might be an official line, should probably take the call.)

The phone jangled. (And I hurled the damn thing through the wall.)

And so on.

Layla Nahar said:

Bear in mind the character perceiving the phone's ring - it may remind them of something, they may associate the phone or the sound with something - basically how the character perceives things should also give you some ideas of what to say beyond 'the phone rang', if something beyond 'the phone rang' is appropriate.

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Ooh, I like this point. And others have mentioned it all throughout the forum, but when you write, try writing in the perspective of the character and not that of the writer. Or in other words, write through the character's eyes. If the phone ringing doesn't hinge the character, it should just be stated that the phone rang. But if the character is uneasy, use that uneasiness to describe the phone ringing. Hopefully that makes sense

My rule of thumb is if I have to strain to think up a modifier, the thing I'm trying to modify probably doesn't need modification. For trivial or mundane things every reader will instantly comprehend, simple is usually best. An exception might be for emphasis, but even there, don't overdo or overthink it.

caw

"Her phone started playing a Guns and Roses guitar riff, cutting off their discussion."

That tells you a little something about the character at the same time as announcing the fact that the phone rang.