by Mike Klaassen

Created on: February 22, 2010

“There’s a four-letter word that always ignites debate in writing classes.  (No, not that four-letter word.)  The word in question is “said,” according to Nancy Kress, in Writer’s Digest (November, 2005).

Writing coaches seem to recognize three groups of attribution verbs:

* Those that are preferable

* Those that are sometimes acceptable

* Those that are not acceptable

But, of course, not everyone agrees which verbs belong in which group.

PREFERABLE

There is one verb that stands out as the most acceptable or preferable verb of attribution, and that is "said."  There are numerous supporters of its use.

Renni Browne and Dave King, in Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, observe that ". . . when you're writing speaker attributions the right verb is nearly always 'said.'  . . . [It] isn't even read the way other verbs are read.  It is, and should be, an almost purely mechanical device - more like a punctuation mark than a verb.  It's absolutely transparent, which makes it graceful and elegant." 

"Said" has such wide acceptance that many writing coaches encourage its frequent use.  Michael Levin, in Writer’s Digest (January 2006) advises writers to “Use 'said' liberally; . . ."  Janet Evanovich, in How I Write, seems to agree when she says, “Don’t be concerned that there will be too many 'saids' in your book.  Readers never really notice them.”

According to Tom Chiarella, in Writing Dialogue, "From the very start of our lives as writers, we are trained not to repeat.  Repeating is lazy . . . the mark of a writer who doesn't care.  New writers tend to lose faith in the word 'said.'  They think they overuse it.  My first piece of advice here is to not worry about it," says Chiarella.  "Use 'said' in your dialogue tags and nothing else.  Concentrate on the words your characters say and the way they say them.  Your first obligation should be to their words.  Get the words right first."

Regarding the overuse of "said," Jack M. Bickham, in 38 Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, notes that “It’s one of those ‘author worries’ that readers just don’t think about.”

Even so, there can be too much of a good thing.  Browne and King observe that "Some writers get a little nervous when they see a long string of 'saids' spreading over the page."

"Admittedly," says Tom Chiarella, "there is

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