“One should use common words to say uncommon things.”
Arthur Schopenhauer
Should the characters always say things? What if they’ve said things for pages and pages and you feel like you need to start making them exclaim, vocalize, announce, proclaim, imagine, or even ejaculate?
There are always two pitfalls to fall into here. The first is one that writers often catch themselves: that they’re using word ‘said’ almost every other word and it is starting to become repetitive.
But the second pitfall is trickier. Because in order to fix the problem, writers will often try substituting other words in order to add variety. (This is where the dreaded ‘vocalize’ can make an appearance!)
The problem with this is that ‘said’ is used so often that often it just fades into the background, but other words like ‘vocalize’ don’t. Usually they will catch the reader up and slow them down, which is something that all authors should try to avoid.
Fortunately there’s a simple solution that fixes both ends of the spectrum. This is to replace the dialogue tags with action. Here’s an example:
“I never said that before,” said Justin.
“I never said that before.” Justin leaned wearily against the sink.
Each of these contains several implications. But first of all, notice how in the second example, the need to use dialogue tags altogether has disappeared because I’ve replaced the word ‘said’ with an action.
Now, notice the addition of information in the second. If your reader just reads the first example, Justin’s emotion is unclear. He could be angry; he could be sad. But in the second example, because of the included action, the emotions and motivation behind the words are very clear.
Secondly, the second example goes even farther by connecting Justin to the world around him. Often one of the keys to good conversations in a book is to ground them in real life. In the first sentence, Justin could be in a car, on a boat, on the moon. Out of context, he could be saying these words absolutely anywhere and to anyone. But in the second, we are reminded that he’s just in the kitchen, talking to someone he knows.
This isn’t a strategy to use all the time, because sometimes you just want to get the story out. Sometimes the answer is to just say ‘Just said’, and to get on to the next thing. But when your dialogue needs grounding, and when you feel that ‘said’ is becoming repetitive, this is the best way to go.