To which I say, I have absolutely hissed the words, ‘Get out.’ Anybody who doesn’t think you can do that has never wanted somebody out of their house badly enough.
This is all about that unhappy subject of substituting other words for ‘said.’ Of course you shouldn’t abuse these things, and there is nothing wrong with ‘said.’ In fact, it’s even better if you can write the dialogue so that you don’t need to use ‘he said/she said’ or any substitutes at all. Their main purpose is to clarify who’s speaking when it isn’t otherwise obvious. So cut down on the number of ‘saids’ that you need to use by indicating which character you’re focusing on in other ways. Think of it as a chance to root your character in the scene and find ways for them to emote non-verbally.
John palmed the stress ball and dug his nails into it. ”Oh, well, it’s all so clear to me now.”
Better than ‘John snarled’ or ‘John said angrily.’ I don’t even need to point out that he’s using a sarcastic tone, do I? Because you know he is.
But I will still use ‘hiss’ and ‘whisper’ and ‘snarl’ and ‘shriek’ and ‘mutter’ when I find them appropriate. I DO WHAT I WANT.
Ok can all writers read this please