Happy Hump Day! Also, happy birthday to my dad, who turns I’m-not-sure-how old today.
This week’s comic is about something that bugs me, but I have no idea if it’s a widespread peeve of editors. I’m curious to find out now, though!
I am, of course, exaggerating. I don’t find the word toxic. I just don’t like it as a tag. I’m a firm believer in the invisible said, with occasional other tags interjected.
But what exactly is wrong with it? Well, for starters, it’s FOUR syllables long! If you want your dialogue to be snapping along, sticking in four syllables versus one or two can start to get tedious on a micro level, and if you use it too often, it all starts to build up and bog down dialogue.
Also on my naughty list: responded, interrupted (just use an em dash to cut someone off, and don’t use both the dash and interrupted), admonished, postulated, apologized (a lot of people tag “I’m sorry” with this), and volunteered.
The short version of my opinion of these words: Narration? Good. Dialogue tagging? Bad!
See you next week!