For those of you who don't use a lot of different dialogue tags, do you use "said" for a question or "asked"?
So which would you use in the last dialogue?:
"I went to the store," Joe said.
"Me too," Sue said.
"What did you buy?" Joe said/asked.
do you use "said" for a question or "asked"?
Yes.
In this case I'd use neither β there's no confusion over who is doing the talking and the question mark takes care of intent/intonation.
I'm trying to get to using 'asked' more frequently (editors help, there) but I'm also comfortable using 'said'.
I'm trying to get to using 'asked' more frequently (editors help, there) but I'm also comfortable using 'said'.
I also use 'inquired' when the word 'ask' is in the dialogue:
"May I ask a question," Joe inquired.
In this case I'd use neither β there's no confusion
The example was done that way to emphasize the dialogue tag.
Assuming a dialogue tag is necessary because there are more than two people engaging, I would use 'asked'. It's like 'said' but for questions, it's virtually invisible to readers. Using 'said' for questions is as bad as using 'asked' for non-questions (and regrettably I've seen that a few times in SOL stories).
AJ
Using 'said' for questions is as bad
I use "asked," but there are times the way the sentence is constructed "said" would be better. That's why I'm asking. I strive to be consistent so if I use "asked" for one question I will use it for all questions.
I remember a discussion on this subject in another forum and many people were adamant about only using "said." Their argument was that the speaker is saying the question so "said" is the right choice. That you don't need "asked" in the dialogue tag to let the reader know it's a question. The ? tells them that.
Their argument was that the speaker is saying the question so "said" is the right choice. That you don't need "asked" in the dialogue tag to let the reader know it's a question. The ? tells them that.
I've seen writing experts say much the same thing but I think they're wrong. If there's a mismatch between punctuation and dialogue tag, I find it jarring and it weakens the effectiveness.
AJ
Related to the "two people engaging" issue, what I've found is that for conversations past two or three back-and-forths, readers get annoyed if there aren't occasional dialogue tags. I have my own rule of thumb for how often to insert them (if nothing else forces one), but I think it's 'whatever works for you and your readers'.
readers get annoyed if there aren't occasional dialogue tags
I don't know about annoyed, but there's the chance of them getting confused.
That, too, or both? There's a chance of them getting confused, but even if they don't get confused, I think sometimes there's a level of awareness of needing to pay particular attention to the conversation flow so as to avoid confusion, which is annoying.
I've read long two-person dialogues without dialogue tags where it's apparent the author has got it wrong. And I double-checked for dropped quotes.
AJ
I may occasionally resemble that remark, although it's almost always caught in editing. It's easy to somehow get off by one, if someone stops in mid-thought and goes off on a tangent. It works in my head; on the page, it's a mess.
It can get especially confusing when there is more than 2 people in a scene but the dialog is only between 2 people.
In addition to "said" and "asked," I use "shouted" and "whispered." (Those four are pretty much it for dialogue tags.)
I was just editing something I wrote and came across:
"Don't you like me?" she whispered.
The "whispered" was important because of where they were. But "whispered" is like "said," except said quieter. So although it's a question, I'm basically using "said." The alternative would be: "she asked in a whisper." Yuck. Too many words to say the same thing.
So I'm wondering if I should stop using "asked."
The "whispered" was important because of where they were.
Good example - yes, I agree. The 'whispered' is more important than emphasising that it's a question. But 'said' doesn't emphasise anything.
AJ
But 'said' doesn't emphasise anything.
Aha! The proponents of ONLY using "said" say it's invisible. That the dialogue tag should not emphasize anything. You could even say that it's "telling" when you use "asked." You're telling the reader it was a question rather than showing it with the ?
I don't think there's a right or wrong answer. It's style. I used to only use "said." Then I started using "asked" for questions. But I'm running into more and more situations where "said" is better to my ear even though it's a question. And, as I said, I'm a strong believer in consistency so if I use "asked" for some questions, I'll do it for all questions.
I was simply looking for people's thoughts.
Just my opinion, that's not the right place and way to strive for unconditional "consistency" (then, I'm also of opinion that any at all too zealous "consistency" is guaranteed to introduce absurd inconsistencies, contradictions).
I would see "asked" as neutral tag for most questions, "said" after question mark modify the tone for me, and/or make the question rhetoric, not expecting an answer.
In my (limited) writing experiments I already have encountered "asked" after a definitely not a question, wondered at it for a while, and decided that's exactly how I want it. Not all inquiries, requests or doubts are formatted as questions even when function as such and expect reactions consistent with that.
Then there is:
"Give me that," he asked for salt.
Or whatever, and no, it's not a given he was pointing at the object, there's many ways to indicate a want. Or perhaps someone else was holding or touching the "that" or it was otherwise defined. Or not, and the moment of confusion that is clarified in the expansion of dialogue tag is deliberate and wanted.
But I would consider that a different case altogether, where the word "asked for" has a different meaning than neutral "asked" tag on a question.
In addition to "said" and "asked," I use "shouted" and "whispered." (Those four are pretty much it for dialogue tags.)
I write a lot of military fiction. So, I often use dialogue tags of: Ordered, Announced, Shouted, Yelled, even Screamed. Combat is often a loud environment, for that matter, a motor pool might be noisy too.
I mostly use said for ordinary conversations, however, I to sometimes add a little variety. If a comment is snarky, I might use the tag: Quipped. If multiple people are talking, and a character says something to all, but not a particular person, I might use the tag: Commented.
In military (or naval) matters, Ordered is a very specific term. In an uncomfortable situation I had an officer in my chain of command ask me to do something border line improper. I considered what he said. Then I asked, "Sir. Are you asking me? Or ordering me?"
He looked at me funny (a senior NCO behind him barely contained his laughter); the officer then said, "I am asking you Sergeant."
I replied, "In that case. No."
The officer said, "What!"
I said, "If you are asking me. The answer is no."
The officer glared at me, then said, "I am ordering you, then."
I considered for a moment. Since obeying was not punishable under the UCMJ. I did as I was ordered.
I am not sure if the officer understood that he was acting in an improper manner, and abusing his authority. Several witnesses were aware. Not that is was likely to lead to an Article 32 hearing, or even NJP. It was, however, wrong. Not that I was willing to actually disobey an order {and possibly have to Prove in a Court Martial that it was clearly an illegal order; not merely borderline. No lives were at stake.}
Stories involving law enforcement officers could have similar dialogue. For instance, a cop might ask a person to turn down the volume of their stereo; but have no legal authority to compel them to do so. However, they could legally order someone to put down their weapon.
I've seen books use said after a question mark rather than asked.
I'm reading The Way of King by Brandon Sadnerson (#1 New York Times bestselling author) and he uses said instead of asked whenever he adds a dialogue tag after a question.
So, the answer to your question, outside of "I would do this," is...use whichever dialogue tag you prefer.
When writing using 'said' gets...well tiresome is a good word to use. Then some time ago I ran across a list of alternatives. The title is "Words to Use Instead of Said." Sorry don't have a link. It has been helpful but have found it is not easy to do. The advantage is that it does add feelings to the dialog.
Cheers
The title is "Words to Use Instead of Said."
From my own list:
exclaimed
declared
demanded
whined
groaned
spluttered
whispered
shouted
inquired
asked
mouthed
agreed
confirmed
acknowledged
retorted
sighed
There are others, but those are the common ones.
From my own list:
I only use said, asked, shouted, and whispered. And am considering not using asked which would leave me three.
But one I've used occasionally is "barked." It's much more than "shouted."
bark
"noun
the external covering of the woody stems, branches, and roots of plants, as distinct and separable from the wood itself.
Tanning. a mixture of oak and hemlock barks.
SEE MORE
verb (used with object)
to rub off or scrape the skin of, as by bumping into something:
to bark one's shins.
to remove a circle of bark from; girdle.
to cover, enclose, or encrust with or as if with bark.
to treat with a bark infusion; tan.
SEE MORE
ORIGIN OF BARK2
First recorded in 1250β1300; Middle English, from Old Norse bΗ«rkr (genitive barkar )
OTHER WORDS FROM BARK
barkless, adjective
OTHER DEFINITIONS FOR BARK (3 OF 3)
bark
3
or barque
[ bahrk ]SHOW IPA
noun
Nautical. a sailing vessel having three or more masts, square-rigged on all but the aftermost mast, which is fore-and-aft-rigged.
Literary. a boat or sailing vessel.
ORIGIN OF BARK3
First recorded in 1425β75; late Middle English barke, from Old French barque, ultimately from Late Latin barca "small boat, barge, bark"; akin to Latin bΔris, from Greek bΓ’ris "Egyptian flat-bottomed boat, raft, barge," from Coptic barΔ« "boat, barge"
I'm a said/asked/no tag guy myself, unless I'm writing a sex scene, then it's moaned, whined, whimpered, etc.
Everything else doesn't sound right to my ears.
I find a lot of the substitutes hammy. I'm not opposed to them, I've used alternate, hopefully sparingly, but I also try to limit my use of said. Once you know who's talking, a tag isn't important. At times, I like to describe how their talking/tone of voice, but I try to keep that to a minimum.
To me, it's all about what sounds best "to my ears." I'm not telling anyone their wrong, or they shouldn't do it, only giving my opinion, like eveyrone else.
"That ends the formal part of my lecture," announced Professor Stompfoot-Carrel. "Does anyone have any questions they'd like to say?"
Sorry, that doesn't cut it for me ;-)
AJ
I have no idea what that means.
You obviously don't understand AJ's (British?) humor.
His Professor Stompfoot-Carrel asks (bold by me):
"Does anyone have any questions they'd like to say?"
say instead of ask is ridiculous here, so why should 'said' be used as a dialogue tag for a question?
HM.
"Does anyone have any questions they'd like to say?"
say instead of ask is ridiculous here, so why should 'said' be used as a dialogue tag for a question?
The real question is: Why would you continue the sentence after "questions"?
"Does anyone have any questions?" Professor Stubbedtoe-Carl asked (or said).
"Does anyone have any questions they'd like to say?"
I was basing the example on a seminar I remember, only the lecturer used 'ask' rather than 'say'.
AJ
If you are verbalizing something you are saying it, even if it's a question.
I think I'm going to go the way of Cormac McCarthy and do away with all tags, as he did in Stella Maris.
If you are verbalizing something you are saying it, even if it's a question.
That was my original point.
I know. I repeated it for awnlee. I probably should have added, "it may sound weird, but it isn't wrong."
If you are verbalizing something you are saying it, even if it's a question.
If you are in a 100 metres race, you are moving. But would anyone really say they were 'moving' the 100 metres when 'running' and 'sprinting' are more specific? I see 'said' and 'asked' having the same distinction when referring to questions,
AJ
If you are in a 100 metres race, you are moving. But would anyone really say they were 'moving' the 100 metres when 'running' and 'sprinting' are more specific? I see 'said' and 'asked' having the same distinction when referring to questions,
AJ
If they were "moving" the 100 meters, I'd say, "Where are you moving it to?"
If they said, "My body will be moving at a high rate of speed in the 100 meters," I'd say, "Strangely worded, but true (if you want to win)."
Even if the wording sounds strange, so long as it is phrased correctly, it's correct. There has to be a clear distinction in the meaning of "moving" when paralleled with running.
If you ask a question, you are saying something.
If you are moving the 100 meters, it means you are changing its location.
If they were "moving" the 100 meters, I'd say, "Where are you moving it to?"
The 100 metres is a track event. You've just shown another disadvantage of a poor choice of verb.
AJ
The 100 metres is a track event. You've just shown another disadvantage of a poor choice of verb.
I know, and track events can be moved between tracks, fields, or anywhere a distance of 100 meters has been marked off, so, "Where are you moving it to?" stands firm, since "it" is referencing the 100 meter race.
I see 'said' and 'asked' having the same distinction
Except the dialogue tag isn't a typical verb. It's a special situation that simply identifies the speaker.
Now for those who want it to do more, they can replace "said" with any number of more descriptive verbs. Or they can attach an adverb to "said." Whether that's good or bad is a whole different discussion and not the one I brought up.
Except the dialogue tag isn't a typical verb. It's a special situation that simply identifies the speaker.
I disagree. If all you want to do is identify the speaker, there are more efficient ways. The colon for example.
AJ
I disagree. If all you want to do is identify the speaker, there are more efficient ways. The colon for example.
Which is how it's done in screenplays. But a novel is not formatted like a screenplay. Novels use dialogue tags.
I was watching some time ago where a woman was in a 100 M race. To say that she was sprinting or running was not what she was doing. She was moving. Her time,as I recall was in the 90 second range. She won! AND beat her age! (100 as I recall)
"Does anyone have any questions they'd like to say?"
The real question is: Why would you continue the sentence after "questions"?
Because he knows there might be students having questions but don't dare to ask, because they think their question might be considered dumb by their peers or the professor (or they are just too shy).
He let his students know he is aware some have questions they don't ask.
HM.
so why should 'said' be used as a dialogue tag for a question?
Because the question in the dialogue is depicted by the ?. The "said" refers to the sentence which includes the dialogue (and simply tags who is speaking).
As I've said here before, dialogue tags are like spices. You don't want to bury your writing in them; every line of dialogue doesn't need a tag.
And some are stronger than others. "Said" is very bland. You can put in a lot of "said" before people start going, "Hey, this story tastes like 'said'!"
"Asked" and "replied" are a little bit stronger, but not much. They have enough flavor that you can't just sprinkle them in anywhere, but in the appropriate context, they enhance the flavor of the writing without overwhelming it.
At the other extreme, there are words like "expostulated". It's very strongly flavored. If you drop in even one "expostulated", your story's going to taste like "expostulated". But sometimes that's what you want.
In my current WIP, for stylistic reasons, I'm making much heavier use of a much wider variety of dialogue tags and much lighter use of action tags (and described action in general) than I usually do. Also, I'm writing in a distant 3rd person present omniscient, which is a decision I'm still not sure about. So far I've used:
says
returns
speaks to
demands
replies
breaks in
taunts
cries
calls
proclaims
protests
shouts
commands
insists
observes
requests
tells
reminds
interrupts
asks
retorts
agrees
scoffs
exclaims
Some of these I would never ordinarily use at all, but they've got the flavor that I'm trying to give this piece. Most of them I wouldn't ordinarily use anywhere near as often as I have been. I think "cries" is actually my most common tag, and it's one that I would ordinarily never use.
But even in this heavily- and weirdly-spiced dish, most of the dialogue is untagged back-and-forth.
If I was writing a normal story for a young audience, a children's story, I'd probably mix up the dialogue tags because children like the "he exclaimed" parts being read to them with an exaggerated voice.
Extra descriptive tags steal my focus, make me laugh, and I start to wonder what word they are going to use next. I don't need the author telling me the tone their character is using with a tag. Tags don't add atmosphere. I can figure out what tone the author is writing in by what their characters are doing and going through, but when it's all said and done, each to their own.
JK Rowling loves throwing in adverbs after said/asked, Stephen King advises against it. (He still does it though.)
Slight diversion: according to my dictionary, a dialogue is a conversation and a conversation is spoken. That would appear to disqualify 'signed' as a dialogue tag.
"That nurse is a hottie," signed Roger.
"I claim first dibs. I saw her first," Duncan signed back.
"You snooze, you lose," countered Roger.
AJ
"That nurse is a hottie," signed Roger.
Not if the characters are deaf and they are signing. Speaking using sigh language.
Speaking using sigh language.
It took a convoluted path but eventually 'speak' came down to 'utter using sound'.
That's what I would have assumed but it was difficult to find it explicitly.
A speaking part in a drama involves uttering using sound.
Someone who is mute is unable to speak.
AJ
Which is why they "signed" and not "said."
Which takes us full circle back to definitions in my dictionary that speaking, conversation and dialogue require sound.
AJ
I'd say sign language would be written in italics, no quotes, since, for writing, quotation marks are for spoken words, repeating someone else's phrases, emphasis, etc.
So, if we were signing, we might right: Let's get some breakfast, Jimbo signed.
I'd say sign language would be written in italics, no quotes
How would you differentiate that with
We should get some breakfast, Jimbo thought.
since thoughts are represented with italics?
At a minimum, you'd have to have a dialogue tag on every thought and signed speech to let the reader know which it was.
Nuance.
Through the writing itself, I'd have to make it clear when someone was signing or someone was thinking.
Example:
We should get some breakfast, Jimbo signed.
Not hungry.
Jimbo shook his head. Motherfucker is going to make me starve. He let his hands fly, signing, I'm off to get some pancakes, with or without you.
I could probably remove "signing" after "fly" and it should be obvious.
Or, you can use indicators:
Jimbo shook his head. Motherfucker is going to make me starve. He looked at Bob: I'm off to get some pancakes, with or without you. (By this point in the conversation, you know they are using sign language due to how the conversation started.)
When it comes down to it, you have to set your rules and stick to them, and write as clearly as possible. If you can follow dialogue in a Cormac McCarthy novel, then you can write it too.
If you're really worried, you don't use Direct Thoughts where they can be confused with other italics. Use Indirect Thoughts, that you can tell.
Edits: I'm shit at typing on the fly when I should be working.
Edits: I'm shit at typing on the fly when I should be working.
I get that - the keys probably squish its furry little body. ;-)
AJ
I get that - the keys probably squish its furry little body. ;-)
AJ
You laugh, but the grossest thing I ever cleaned out of my keyboard was a dead fly and I keep my house a fly-free zone.
I hate flies.
I had a dirty bastard for a neighbor once, unclean M-F-er, and I was knocking flies out of the air with my swatter. It was like skeet shooting, but not as fun, not as cool, and just plain disgusting.
Slight diversion: according to my dictionary, a dialogue is a conversation and a conversation is spoken. That would appear to disqualify 'signed' as a dialogue tag.
That's only if you want to limit a dialogue to 'spoken conversation'. You could write and exchange notes back and forth as a way to 'talk' silently. You could 'converse' by tapping Morse code. The exchange of words/sentences is still a dialogue.
That's only if you want to limit a dialogue to 'spoken conversation'.
That's not necessarily what I want but what my dictionary says.
AJ
"That nurse is a hottie," signed Roger.
Thought about this being just a typo (or an autocorrect-error)?
"That nurse is a hottie," sighed Roger.
Look at the proximity of 'h' and 'n' on a keyboard.
HM.
Thought about this being just a typo (or an autocorrect-error)?
"That nurse is a hottie," sighed Roger.
Look at the proximity of 'h' and 'n' on a keyboard.
Well spotted, but that wasn't the intention in this case ;-)
AJ
