He Said, She Said: Grammar and Options in Dialogue
We all have habits, things we do repeatedly and automatically, usually without thinking. We buy the same clothes in the same colors. We order the same dish at a restaurant. We watch the same TV programs. Writers have habits too. Dedicating time to write each day is a good habit. Reading great works of literature is a good habit. But unthinking overuse of certain words is a bad habit. This lack of creativity often shows up as repetitive “dialogue tags” (verbs that indicate who is speaking)—usually the word “said.”
