I Have Watched Literally None Of Them

100 Dialogue Tags You Can Use Instead of “Said”

For the writers struggling to rid themselves of the classic ‘said’. Some are repeated in different categories since they fit multiple ones (but those are counted once so it adds up to 100 new words). 

1. Neutral Tags 

Straightforward and unobtrusive dialogue tags: 

Added, Replied, Stated, Remarked, Responded, Observed, Acknowledged, Commented, Noted, Voiced, Expressed, Shared, Answered, Mentioned, Declared.

2. Questioning Tags 

Curious, interrogative dialogue tags:

Asked, Queried, Wondered, Probed, Inquired, Requested, Pondered, Demanded, Challenged, Interjected, Investigated, Countered, Snapped, Pleaded, Insisted.

3. Emotive Tags 

Emotional dialogue tags:

Exclaimed, Shouted, Sobbed, Whispered, Cried, Hissed, Gasped, Laughed, Screamed, Stammered, Wailed, Murmured, Snarled, Choked, Barked.

4. Descriptive Tags 

Insightful, tonal dialogue tags: 

Muttered, Mumbled, Yelled, Uttered, Roared, Bellowed, Drawled, Spoke, Shrieked, Boomed, Snapped, Groaned, Rasped, Purred, Croaked.

5. Action-Oriented Tags 

Movement-based dialogue tags: 

Announced, Admitted, Interrupted, Joked, Suggested, Offered, Explained, Repeated, Advised, Warned, Agreed, Confirmed, Ordered, Reassured, Stated.

6. Conflict Tags 

Argumentative, defiant dialogue tags:

Argued, Snapped, Retorted, Rebuked, Disputed, Objected, Contested, Barked, Protested, Countered, Growled, Scoffed, Sneered, Challenged, Huffed.

7. Agreement Tags 

Understanding, compliant dialogue tags: 

Agreed, Assented, Nodded, Confirmed, Replied, Conceded, Acknowledged, Accepted, Affirmed, Yielded, Supported, Echoed, Consented, Promised, Concurred.

8. Disagreement Tags 

Resistant, defiant dialogue tags: 

Denied, Disagreed, Refused, Argued, Contradicted, Insisted, Protested, Objected, Rejected, Declined, Countered, Challenged, Snubbed, Dismissed, Rebuked.

9. Confused Tags 

Hesitant, uncertain dialogue tags:

Stammered, Hesitated, Fumbled, Babbled, Mumbled, Faltered, Stumbled, Wondered, Pondered, Stuttered, Blurted, Doubted, Confessed, Vacillated.

10. Surprise Tags

Shock-inducing dialogue tags:

Gasped, Stunned, Exclaimed, Blurted, Wondered, Staggered, Marvelled, Breathed, Recoiled, Jumped, Yelped, Shrieked, Stammered.

Note: everyone is entitled to their own opinion. No I am NOT telling people to abandon said and use these. Yes I understand that said is often good enough, but sometimes you WANT to draw attention to how the character is speaking. If you think adding an action/movement to your dialogue is 'good enough' hate to break it to you but that ruins immersion much more than a casual 'mumbled'. And for the last time: this is just a resource list, CALM DOWN. Hope that covers all the annoyingly redundant replies :)

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

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man 🚶🏻‍♀️‍➡️

all your stuffed animals love you. they're not sad if they're in a box, or on the floor, or not held/played with as much. they understand. they know that you might need another stuffie more, or that you don't have enough space. they're just happy to be with you, and if you ever give them away, they'll be happy there too. stuffies are for comfort. they understand. they love you too. it's okay.

"The Mother never told me it would be this Lonely..."

(au info + fanfic under cut!)

tma au go brrrr lmao

basically og elias is the web's favoured avatar (like how jon is the beholdings special little boy) and unfortunately that does Not go well for him

so because hes the avatar best suited for this shit (hes not called the fateweaver for no reason) hes chosen to become jonah's next puppet and aid in the stopping of the apocalyse

at first he was like "alr man sure" but now he just wants Out

(also i headcanon that his consciousness forms into a semi corporeal in his mind so that he'd be able to actually, yk, do the web shit he has to do in order to change fate? so thats why he looks like a twink!)

hmmmm

I keep daydreaming about a TMA time travel AU where nobody remembers the future except for the fears themselves, so instead of there just being tape recorders recording at random, they now randomly start playing audio from the previous future as well. They give information from useful to frighteningly vague, but most of all, the recorders tend to just fill the air of the Archives with the most mundane moments that don't necessarily serve a purpose. Like a mere radio.

There's the sounds of a supermarket for 10 minutes straight until Martin's quiet voice can be heard saying "sorry, I'm back" and Jon's quiet reply of "oh, good. You found it." "Yeah, I had to get help from someone who works here, Diane I think her name was. She was very nice actually!" "Gone so long talking about the cows, were you?" Or Tim and Sasha chatting at a restaurant that the present two had been planning to visit soon. The Archives will be nearly silent except for the tapping of keys, then everyone will startle as a heated argument between Tim and Jon suddenly plays from a tape recorder that nobody remembers putting on that shelf. A shockingly romantic conversation starts playing in the breakroom while it's just Tim and Martin, and Tim's eyebrows slowly raise while Martin turns beet red. Sometimes (usually) the tape recorder will play something so alarming that everyone just stares at each other for a solid minute. Sasha mentions meeting Michael and everyone's like "the guy who was going to kill future Jon???"

Every time I'm reading a fic, there's some conversation in it that makes me go "can you imagine if the S1 archives crew heard this," so I... do imagine

which one of u was going to tell me that tea tastes different if u put it in hot water?

i love the funky dj spotify because be could be like "these songs are for that those funky vibes" then the next song is like FUCK YOU FUCK YOU VERY VERY MUCH and i love him for that

i love (noises that you cannot comprehend. your ears burst trying to hear it. you collapse on the floor, unmoving.) i wish it was real

come bbg let me bite you as a form of affection

THERES SOURCES!!

Fun Fact: Hognose snakes are dramatic lil guys!

I am particularly fond of the snakes known as hognose snakes, and my reasons are both understandable and correct.

This is a hognose snake:

(They received their name by having the sweetest lil snoot to ever require a boop – image source)

They use these adorable snoots to burrow under sandy soil using a sort of nuzzle-y motion. They then use these burrows as a place to sleep at night, hibernate in the winter, and lay their eggs. 

(you could say they’re into… the Underground Scene! …ok yeah i’ll show myself out – image source)

Plus, they come in a variety of delightful colours!

We’ve got brown! Beige! Yellow! Black! Red! Orange! Tan! Kinda greenish! Orange again!

(pretty sneks! – Here’s all the image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

And, to be clear, the snakes pictured above are wild snakes. No selective breeding by humans in these noodly bois! At least, not in these specific individuals. probably. I guess a few of them could be escapees… 

But most importantly: These snakes know the true meaning of DRAMA

Hognose snakes are actors, first and foremost. When they feel threatened, the first thing they do is puff out their neck into a hood. 

(like cobras, this hood is made by FLEXING THEIR NECK RIBS. which: gross – image source x)

This superficially makes them look like a cobra, but what they’re actually trying to do is make themselves seem bigger, and therefore scarier. Possibly those dark spots on their neck helps with that! 

Any resemblance to real-life Eurasian cobras, real or fictional, is purely coincidental

Also, it makes its mouth do this:

(Snakes that SCREAAAAAAAM. – image source)

honestly, if I didn’t already know that hognose snakes were harmless, this would ABSOLUTELY make me leave it the hell alone 

But if all of that^ is unsuccessful at scaring away the predator, the hognose snake pulls its signature move: playing dead

If you think that is a lame signature move, then you are wrong, because hognose snakes put EVERYTHING into their performance and I love them for it.

(they’re serious, they’ll do it!  – image source)

((I’m actually going to stick the rest of this under a read-more, bc the pictures of the alive-and-physically-fine hognose snakes do kind of look like a legitimately-dead hognose snake, if you don’t know what to look for. 

So, uh: cw for a snake being too good at pretending to be dead))

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