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Replacing "asked" with "said"

TrapperViper

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In "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" it is addressed that most of the time, "said" works better than "asked" when used as a dialogue tag.
Reason being, asked is distracting because it's redundant.

I continue to comb through my MS, searching for areas to clean up or adjust to make it query ready. I'm considering replacing most of the "asked" dialogue tags with "said."

I'm curious if any of you have any thoughts on this topic?

FWIW, here's a simple article on dialogue tags, arguing that really the only ones we should be using most of the time are "said" and "asked."

https://www.septembercfawkes.com/2017/02/breaking-writing-rules-right-only-use.html

Thank you in advance for your insights.
 

Woollybear

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Hello.

Balance is key. Also, developing your ear--through reading current work in your genre, reading widely, also writing and paying attention to what 'sounds' best.

How do your favorite recent authors do it? Read. Read. Train your ear. Every author will be a little different. Each has a unique voice. Like singing. But by reading, you will learn to hear what is 'in tune' and what is out of tune.

Also, Workshopping excerpts with other writers can really help you clue in to whether your novel has the right balance. I'm forcing myself to workshop the entire 120,000 words of my current WIP and the 85,000 words that we've done so far are so much better than the 35,000 left to go. If three or four or five people all say your tags are off, then they are off.

In other words, you'll have to find the balance that works for you. There's a few tried-and-true ways to do that. Reading. Writing. Workshopping excerpts.

Having said all of that general advice, most 'said bookisms' like growled, exhorted, exclaimed, and so on ... are to be avoided, yes. Some bookisms like murmured are ok if used very sparingly. Read and see what published authors are doing.
 
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RLBeers

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My advice is to ignore that advice as it violates the rules of grammar. Said is for statements, asked is for questions. However, there is a myriad of terms that depict forms of speech and how it is uttered. Consider murmured, muttered, retorted, cried, screeched, whined, coo'd, uttered, and so on. Try to picture what you are writing as a scene in a movie or a TV show. How are the actors, your characters being portrayed? What are their emotions, and so on? Once you get to where you can see that, in essence, "hear the voices" this will enable you to be more accurate as the creator, in showing that mood to your audience, the reader.
 

ldlago

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most of the time, "said" works better than "asked" when used as a dialogue tag.


More often than not, no tag is necessary. You can tell from context which character is speaking, particularly if only two characters are engaged in conversation. Or you can add description. Jane walked to the window and looked out. "Traffic's pretty light today."
 

Cephus

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Asked and said are the standards and should be used most often. Asked is used when questions are asked. Said for statements. There are plenty of times when neither are necessary, given the context of the conversation. It is usually not appropriate to simply replace every instance of "asked" with "said". It makes no sense.
 

MaeZe

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My unqualified opinion:

If it is obvious from the dialogue that it is a question: no tag needed.

If it is not clear who is speaking and, you chose a dialog tag to indicate the speaker, said is awkward. People ask questions they don't 'say' questions.

And if you are not sure, find another way to identify the speaker. That's best anyway, use tags as rarely as possible.
 

MaeZe

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In "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" it is addressed that most of the time, "said" works better than "asked" when used as a dialogue tag.
Reason being, asked is distracting because it's redundant.

I continue to comb through my MS, searching for areas to clean up or adjust to make it query ready. I'm considering replacing most of the "asked" dialogue tags with "said."

I'm curious if any of you have any thoughts on this topic?

FWIW, here's a simple article on dialogue tags, arguing that really the only ones we should be using most of the time are "said" and "asked."

https://www.septembercfawkes.com/2017/02/breaking-writing-rules-right-only-use.html

Thank you in advance for your insights.
You might want to reread that column. I can't find anywhere in it that the author says replace asked with said. I skimmed a bit so If I missed it, a quote might help.
 

Bufty

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Agreed.

However tags are used make sure the reader knows who is speaking as early as possible.

Putting 'said/asked X' as an identifying tag at the end of a paragraph or even after two sentences or lines of dialogue is usually too late.

More often than not, no tag is necessary. You can tell from context which character is speaking, particularly if only two characters are engaged in conversation. Or you can add description. Jane walked to the window and looked out. "Traffic's pretty light today."
 

MaeZe

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You might want to reread that column. I can't find anywhere in it that the author says replace asked with said. I skimmed a bit so If I missed it, a quote might help.

I looked at the article again and I think I see how it was misinterpreted: it was the title.

Title:
Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Only Use 'Said'"

But in the body of the article:
But there is a rule in the writing world that we should pretty much only use "said" and "asked."

I think the author used a shortcut in the title.
 
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Dennis E. Taylor

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The rationale behind using "said" has always been that "said" disappears into the story, whereas things like "warbled" stand out. But this is not true in audio books, which are becoming a bigger part of the market. In audio books, constant use of "said" stands out like a glowing, pulsating, sore thumb. John Scalzi, who always used "said" almost exclusively, has said (hah hah) that he's had to change his style a bit.
As others have mentioned above, try to use beats more often. Of course, then you have the danger of characters who shrug, sigh, nod, frown, and grin a lot (my particular tic).
 

Woollybear

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One trick with the simple physical cues is to have the character not do it. It helps, if only marginally.

Jen refused to smile. "You think you're funny."
 
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Sage

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If someone is asking something, use "asked." If you need to. And sometimes you do. If you can get away with no tag, do that, but sometimes you just need a tag. If it's a question, they're asking, not saying.

It's okay to occasionally not use "said." For example, you might have to indicate that your character is whispering because it's not apparent from the situation. "Said" is preferred because it's invisible, but sometimes you want to highlight how something's being spoken. Understand why "said" is preferred and figure out if the guideline applies to your situation. It's not an absolute. It's not even an absolute to be "said" or "asked."