Saidisms · 9:37pm Jul 12th, 2017
I have my own pet peeves, but I confess anti-saidism rage always has baffled me. I don’t see how a saidism is any different from other descriptive terms and phrases. I suppose it may be akin to the anti-adverb rage I see occasionally, but then I don’t get that either.
If a saidism is too hyperbolic or overwrought, then it falls under the general category of “purple prose”, which should be avoided across all one’s writing, not just that particular niche. To my mind an understated, or at least appropriate, saidism can and should be a useful indicator of tone, volume, delivery, or other pertinent aspect of the dialog to which it is connected—especially when that aspect otherwise might be ambiguous or may require reinforcement for full effect. If there’s any point of agreement, I suppose it would be to avoid using them too often.
I feel “said”, like other bland default verbs, carries no flavor or color and frankly is dull and boring, particularly if it’s used over and over. That’s what I find jarring. (I did mention I have my own pet peeves.) To avoid droning on with “he said, she said, we said, they said,” I frequently skip an attribution entirely, relying on the rest of the paragraph to supply the speaker’s identity and surrounding context. Granted, that can be tricky and does require careful attention when composing or editing, but I’ve found it to be by far the best solution, at least for my narratives.
The theory is that, being a bland, boring word, 'said' will fade into the background as people pay more attention to who is speaking rather than how. People definitely go overboard with saidisms. (If your story isn't M-rated, no one should be ejaculating anything. <.<)
But with that said, a good writer does what you suggest: avoid direct attribution at all. "He said" after a block of text serves the purpose of telling us who spoke. "He pointed to the highest tower" after a block of text tells us who spoke and moves the story along. That's efficiency!
Yeah, I'm all for saidisms when necessary to convey tone, volume, etc., particularly when body language or movement would be inappropriate or clunky. It's a fine line to walk, and I am probably on the too much side of that line, but I've never stooped to something like, "Look out for the dynamite!" he cried, explosively.
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I admit to a sneaking suspicion the conventional wisdom may not reflect reality completely accurately. Or maybe I just am more attuned to vocabulary than most people are.
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If that’s what the naysayers are talking about, I can agree on that much!
Yeah, “Tom Swifties” definitely are over the top.