TIL feedback on my dialogue made me drop all my 'said' tags for a week

Was in a writing workshop in Portland back in October. A reader told me my dialogue tags were getting in the way of the actual talking. I used to write things like "she said nervously" or "he replied quickly" all the time. They suggested I try a whole story with nothing but "said" and then nothing at all. Just bare dialogue with action beats. Did it for a week on a 3000 word short story about a diner waitress and a trucker. Felt awkward at first but now I see how much stronger the conversation flows when I trust the words themselves. Anyone else had feedback that made you ditch a habit you thought was fine?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_tara19d ago

I mean, I once had a writing group tell me that every single one of my sentences started with "The" and I got so self-conscious I started every paragraph with "So" for like two months. It was a mess. But yeah, ditching the tags feels like taking off a heavy coat. I did a similar thing where I forced myself to write a whole scene with just actions, like "she stirred her coffee" instead of "she said quietly," and it was way harder than I thought but totally worth it. Now I catch myself adding those little adverbs back in sometimes, but I try to cut them before anyone sees.

sarah_hart18d ago

Honestly that bit about "she stirred her coffee" instead of "she said quietly" really hit home for me. I did the exact same exercise and it was brutal at first because you realize how much you lean on those crutch words. @the_tara you put it perfectly about it feeling like taking off a heavy coat. I still catch myself adding "she murmured" or "he whispered" back in because they feel safe. But every time I cut them the scene just breathes better. It's like learning to trust the reader to get the tone from the action itself.