Synonyms for "Said"

One thing to remember about said, though - it's the one tag that fades into the background for the reader, allowing the dialogue to stand out, as the reader's eyes skims right over it. So it can be a very good choice, as using too many varied dialogue tags can be jarring for the reader.

But then you get editors who call the whole bunch of then Said Bookisms and want you to change them all back to just "said."

ALWAYS understand the meaning of the substitute word.

I have friends (male, both of them) who are inordinately fond of "quip." They NEVER use it right. EVER. This tends to leave me rageful and flogging them about the head and shoulders with Roget's.

I avoid dialogue tags when I can, use said, asked, shouted or whispered when I can't. No one ejaculates (words), thin-smiles or quips in my books. Occasionally they will enunciate, but the dialogue shows this as well.

So what do you consider to be the correct usage of "quip"?

Nice links! I started writing some fiction again recently and will use some of those suggestions.

Can you recommend any forums for writers of modern fantasy? I'm 30,000-odd words into what looks like it'll be a novel about Frey and the alfar coming back into the world... Writing it is entertaining me but if I want to do anything with it I'm going to need a lot of feedback. (I can tell it's utter cr*p that will need loads of editing, to be clearer.)

I looked at writing.com but wasn't very impressed with it... Is there anywhere you think might be better?

Thank you for the links. Those are very helpful. :)

My only objection is that the last one doesn't seem to get the difference between the tenses; "says" vs. "said". It drives me to distraction when writers mix the two tenses. ;)

I hear you on that. "Said" is so dull. I even try to avoid synonyms of that word when I can, preferring to describe emotional reactions or other character actions in lieu of telling the reader who is speaking. Also, in 2-character dialogue, one way of replacing "said" is having one character say the other's name. (Name-dropping method.)

Examples:

Emotional reaction method:
"Sugar! Spice! There you are!" Lo smiled, and stood up. She hugged each of them in turn.
[It is thus indicated that Lo is the one speaking]

Other action method:
Lo's mother turned red. "I'm sorry, dears, to barge in on you like this."

[Lo's mother turning red indicates she is the one speaking.]

Name-dropping method:
Just then, the door at the top of the stairs opened again, and someone came down them. Everyone turned to look at who was coming. They were all quite surprised to see someone who looked like an older version of Lo; tall, pale, with long black hair, except that this person was wearing a tan one-piece dress made of very light – but not sheer – fabric, and had glasses on. They all instantly recognized Lo's mom.
"Mom?"
...
"We don't really have a seat for you, Mom."

[Thus it is made clear Lo is speaking, as the previous paragraph is describing someone who looks like an older version of Lo]

Dunno what to call this, but here's another example. Uses "say" but still sounds better than "said" =

Now it was the other Hispanic boy's turn. Fidgeting in his seat, trying to get comfortable, he managed to say, "Adrian Saul Rodriguez"

One last "action" example:

The willowy girl with dirty-blond hair adjusted her glasses before speaking. “Cinnamon Cumin, alias Spice. Treasurer.”

I'm a reader, not a writer.

I don't mind "said"- it fades into the background.

I hate overuse of cute synonyms/qualifiers; once they get overused enough to make me aware of them, they're intrusive and I start to count them and maybe create a drinking game. Example of note: Jim Butcher's overuse of "quietly" in his "Codex Alera" series, in which 1 book had several examples of him using it 5 times per page. This is annoying and make4s me conscious of the mechanics of the writing rather than the story.

However, I also hate it when the author does not attribute comments to people, so if I want to know who said what I need to go to the last attribution and COUNT. And this only works if there are only 2 people talking.