"More on 'Said'," he said.

I was doing some more thinking about the use of 'said' and quotations in general, and thought I'd share a few topics that I think are useful.


When to use 'said'. 
There are many times when said is used and should be used, or else its overuse wouldn't be a problem.  

One major use of 'said' is when the quotation is an isolated instance, and done very quickly.  For example, during a fight scene, one knight might say to another, "here, take this."  This is certainly a fine time to use 'said'.  Why?  Because 1.) 'said' is one of those words that readers tend to subconsciously 'skip over', so to speak, because it's such a common word.  When 'said' is used, we have the inclination at times to recognize it by its look and search rather for the pronoun or name of who actually said the quotation.  That is, we skip the garnish and go for the meat.  Have you ever heard that we don't read every single letter, but the word as a whole, and taht as lnog as the frsit and lsat ltetres are the smae, it's slitl radealbe?  Well, it's the same concept with some words that are common.  As long as the eye quickly recognizes the word 'said', the eye dismisses it and looks for the who.  2.) The author, in such a scene as this, doesn't want the momentum of the action to stop by a simple quote such as "here, take this."  Use of the word 'said' swiftly allows the reader to move on to the rest of the action, while still remaining grammatically proper.  The use of another, perhaps more creative but probably more complex word will distract the reader, making him think about the meaning of such a word more than the quick hop-scotch move into dialogue and out again. 



This is just one example of an actual desired use of 'said', though there are probably more.  Food for thought, mostly.


When not to use ANY word.  
There are times when using any word after a quote might not be very effective.  This is especially true of an ongoing conversation between two people.  After an initial use, its easy to tell who's talking, since they take turns.


"Hello," said Kate.
"Hey," Jon replied.
"You going to that dance tomorrow night?"
"I don't think so."
"Aw, c'mon, why not?"
"I don't think any girls will want to dance with me."
"...I...I'll dance with you, Jon."
"Are you okay?"
"I...I always wanted to tell you..."
"Um...what?"
"I..." Her cheeks turned a hot pink, eyes widening in frozen embarrassment.
After an incredibly uneasy silence, Jon turned to the blog writer with eyes that said, What in the world kind of awkward situation did you just drop me in?! 

You can see that it was pretty clear who was speaking, and the convo was able to move at a nice, natural pace because there weren't any words like 'said' to break up the rhythm...at least until that epic ending...

This, of course, changes when a third speaker arrives, and then it's necessary to include some indicator of who's talking so that the reader doesn't get confused.  It's necessary at times to really make sure that these kinds of instances don't get muddied up with 'un'-smooth 'said' remarks.  Make sure that such conversations have their own flow as they're being read.  I say 'their own' because sometimes, depending on what kind of vibe you want to come out of a certain convo, you may not want it to flow smoothly.  That's really up to you as the author.  Keep in mind that simply the way a passage is structured  affects how the reader's mind is affected.  If a passage is written in short, choppy statements, it can lend well to a mindset of a chase, a frightening scene or something chaotic.  Such things affect the reader.  

..::WORD OF THE DAY::..  

Agrestic - [uh-GRES-tik]

- adjective

1.) rural; rustic

2.) unpolished; awkward

Example: Jon's agrestic behavior toward Kate lost him his chance to dance with ANYONE EVER AGAIN.

:D  

May your quills always be inspired,

J Cole