History SelfDemonstrating / SaidBookism

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!!Examples:

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* ''ComicBook/TomorrowStories'':
** In one special, Splash Brannigan decides to act like a FilmNoir-slash-dime novel hero, and narrates everything that happens to him. So this is how conversations go with him
--->'''Splash:''' "Take it easy, toots!", I screamed. "I'm simply considering a career as a 1930's film noir detective!"\\
'''Daisy:''' But it's 2005! You'll never find suitable premises!\\
'''Splash:''' ...she moaned, seductively.
** At one point Daisy specifically tells him not to say "she said". Throughout the story he basically uses every other word that could possibly mean "spoke", and a couple that couldn't, paired with increasingly ridiculous adverbs.

[[AC:{{Fanfic}}]]
* ''FanFic/TheEndIsNear'' uses ''a lot'' of these, but it's good enough that the reader can mostly ignore them.
* ''FanFic/MyImmortal'' has a sequence of these in Chapter 6, which [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_uioZd3XJg this dramatic reading]] inevitably [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]].
-->ENOUGH! with the dialogue tags. (I don't care what your English teacher told you; "said" is fine)
* ''Fanfic/TheLostGirl'': Yes, Tinker Bell gets her own set of dialogue tags. Oh, brother!
* ''Metroid High School'', to a downright ridiculous extent. The word "said" is used maybe two times in the entire story.
* ''Fanfic/PastSins'': "Offered" is used quite a bit.
* Present in ''FanFic/{{Whispers}}'', and the author has admitted this problem is prevalent in all his works.
* ''FanFic/FromFakeDreams'' Almost every conversation utilizes some form of repetitive dialogue tag.
* ''FanFic/HomestuckHigh'', [[YouKeepUsingThatWord with an intrepid disregard for the actual meaning of the words used]], up to the point of "she eviscerated softly".
* ''Fanfic/SakiAfterStory'' does this to the point at which "said" is only used by characters who are speaking in reference to what they or others have said, never to describe dialogue.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* The trope name comes from the ''Website/TurkeyCityLexicon'', which lists it as a common mistake made by beginning writers.
* The Literature/TomSwift books were notorious for this, leading to the invention of the TomSwifty.
* Literature/{{Biggles}} does this all the time. Algy and Ginger might be guilty of saying things, but Biggles and Von Stalhein never are.
* The ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series had a few notorious examples:
-->"We're not going to use magic?" Ron [[HaveAGayOldTime ejaculated]] loudly.
-->"Snape!" Slughorn [[AuthorVocabularyCalendar ejaculated]].
* "Don't use this trope," ''Literature/HowNotToWriteANovel'' [[HypocriticalHumor advised repeatedly.]]
* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' is most definitely guilty of this, as skewered expertly [[http://reasoningwithvampires.tumblr.com/tagged/dialogue_tags here.]]
** TheHost is just as bad.
** Creator/DaveBarry's ''Twilight'' parody ''Fangs of Endearment'' does it on every single dialogue tag.
* Creator/StephenKing voiced his disgust for this in ''On Writing'': "Don't do these things. Please oh please. The best form of dialogue attribution is said, as in he said, she said, Bill said, Monica said."
** He also provides the best example of doing it wrong: "'You fucking tease!', Bill jerked out."
* Defended by Lawrence Block in ''Telling Lies For Fun and Profit,'' in which he says that replacements for "said" can enliven a story, so long as they're not used with a heavy hand:
---> I do feel that any number of alternate verbs have their uses from time to time. They can be good accent points in dialogue, and the less frequently you employ them the more effective they will be.
* ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' is infamous for this, especially in ''Eragon''. [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment "'Sorry,' apologized Brom."]]
* Occasionally, Creator/TimothyZahn's otherwise excellent Dragonback Trilogy falls prey to this.
** This actually crops up in pretty much all of his work. ''Literature/ChoicesOfOne'' follows the ''Eragon'' example above: [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment "'Sorry,' Luke apologized."]]
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'' falls into this sometimes, though this mostly is becuase the authors replace every instance of the word "said" with "meowed", which can get [[{{Narm}} a little weird sometimes]] and the authors want to avoid that. Apart from that, there are still a lot of said bookisms, like "ventured."
* The fantasy author Creator/RobertAsprin is another who sometimes had problems with this.
** Characters in the ''Literature/MythAdventures'' will often "retort" to something "argued" to them.
* Creator/ElmoreLeonard includes in his [[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CE3DD103BF935A25754C0A9679C8B63 Rules of Writing]] "Never use a verb other than 'said' to carry dialogue." Another rule expands on that slightly: "Never use an adverb to modify the verb 'said.'"
* ''Literature/TheEyeOfArgon''. Nothing is ever "said" - instead it is "husked" or "ejaculated" or "stated [[PerfectlyCromulentWord whimsicoracally]]".
* ''Literature/AtlantaNights'' uses this quite a bit, as one of many [[StylisticSuck deliberately bad]] writing techniques.
* "The word said is to prose what the arrow of a word balloon is to comics", Creator/NeilGaiman blogged.
* ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'' is not only full of these, it's full of redundant ones, like "snorted contemptuously".
* ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' is very fond of 'murmur', even using it four times on one page. People are also fond of whispering things.
** Also, dialogue often gets tagged with actions, in some cases ''[[EpicFail not by the actual speaker]]''. This can make it quite hard to tell who's talking at any given time.
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', there is a character called Hodor, who has a VerbalTicName: the only word he can speak is "Hodor". The prose is fond of sentences like: "''Hodor'', Hodor agreed." or "''Hodor'', Hodor protested.", to convey the emotion of the character's speech. Also [[BuffySpeak reinsubverted or something]] on at least one occasion in which the word "hodor" is used ''as'' a SaidBookism in-universe.
--> '''Bran:''' [[MemeticMutation "Hush, Hodor. No more hodoring."]]
** "Catelyn admitted", "Tyrion pointed out", "Ned replied"… the series tend to have this pop up quite frequently, though aversions happen a lot as well.
* Darren Shan, most famous for ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan,'' likes to use these regardless of whether they're needed or not. He once used the word "tsked." No, really.
* Classic science fiction writer Stanley Weinbaum's most famous short story is "A Martian Odyssey," which he followed with a sequel, "The Valley of Dreams." They involve a team of astronauts who have traveled to Mars, including a German named [[BilingualBonus Putz]] as a minor character. Both stories give him a chance to [[HaveADayOldTime "ejaculate"]] a line of dialogue.
* Creator/RobertBParker had an apparent version to using any other word than "said" to tag dialogue, at least in the ''Literature/{{Spenser}}'' series. Listening to the audiobook really drives the point home.
* Creator/TamoraPierce tended to do this early on; it's most noticeable in [[Literature/SongOfTheLioness the Alanna books]].
* Walter Kerr's ''How Not to Write a Play'' cautions playwrights against the theatrical equivalent of this trope, which is to lead every significant line of dialogue with an adverb in parentheses.
* In ''Literature/ThePhantomTollbooth'', the members of King Azaz's cabinet talk like this all the time.
* This is really prevalent throughout ''Literature/StrengthAndJustice''. Nearly every line of dialogue will have this.

[[AC:WebAnimation]]
* Parodied in the ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' short "[[http://www.homestarrunner.com/stuckincraw.html The Homestar Runner Gets Something Stuck in His Craw]]", which deliberately (over)uses Said Bookism as part of a parody of bad children's books.

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* ''Blog/HowToWriteBadlyWell'' parodies this in [[http://writebadlywell.blogspot.com/2011/08/banish-said-from-your-vocabulary.html "Banish 'said' from your vocabulary"]].
* Zigzagged in ''Blog/AliceAndBob'', with attempts at avoiding "said" and then just settling on that word.
* ''Website/TheOnion'' ran a brief article where the author of a new book persistently used "shrugged" as every said bookism. When asked about this, said author expressed her indifference with a quick raising of her shoulders.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Many English classes in American schools specifically require students to write this way, as well as proscribing all use of "be" verbs (is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been). It can almost seem as if they are ''trying'' to sabotage future writers.
* Completely averted in Russian – if you ''don't'' use Said Bookism, you will be considered an okay writer at best.
* Usually averted in German. You are expected to describe what someone's voice sounds like.

* Classic science fiction writer Stanley Weinbaum's most famous short story is "A Martian Odyssey," which he followed with a sequel, "The Valley of Dreams." They involve a team of astronauts who have traveled to Mars, including a German named [[BilingualBonus Putz]] as a minor character. Both stories give him a chance to [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar "ejaculate"]] a line of dialogue.

* Mostly averted in German. You are allowed to describe how someones voice sounds like. And do not have to describe what their face does. So peoples voices do not always sound flat and polite while their faces frown and [[UncannyValley "glare"]].

"I guess so." Bob shrugged. "In that case [[TropesAreTools you always have 'said' or its synonyms as a fallback, at least,]] so long as you don't overuse it."

* Mostly averted in German. You are allowed to describe how someones voice sounds like. And do not have to describe what their face does. So peoples voices do not always sound flat and polite while their faces frown and [[uncanny valley "glare"]].

* Robert B. Parker had an apparent version to using any other word than "said" to tag dialogue, at least in the ''Literature/{{Spenser}}'' series. Listening to the audiobook really drives the point home.

* {{Biggles}} does this all the time. Algy and Ginger might be guilty of saying things, but Biggles and Von Stalhein never are.

* ElmoreLeonard includes in his [[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CE3DD103BF935A25754C0A9679C8B63 Rules of Writing]] "Never use a verb other than 'said' to carry dialogue." Another rule expands on that slightly: "Never use an adverb to modify the verb 'said.'"

* Robert B. Parker had an apparent version to using any other word than "said" to tag dialogue, at least in the ''{{Spenser}}'' series. Listening to the audiobook really drives the point home.

* Occasionally, TimothyZahn's otherwise excellent Dragonback Trilogy falls prey to this.

* ''AtlantaNights'' uses this quite a bit, as one of many deliberately bad writing techniques.

* ''TheEyeOfArgon''. Nothing is ever "said" - instead it is "husked" or "ejaculated" or "stated [[PerfectlyCromulentWord whimsicoracally]]".

"There are!" enthused Bob. "It's not just like PurpleProse, but also sort of like DelusionsOfEloquence and AuthorVocabularyCalendar," he noted [[Literature/TomSwifty augustly]].

* The Literature/TomSwift books were notorious for this, leading to the invention of the Literature/TomSwifty.

"There are!" enthused Bob. "It's not just like PurpleProse, but also sort of like DelusionsOfEloquence and AuthorVocabularyCalendar," he noted [[TomSwifty augustly]].

* The TomSwift books were notorious for this, leading to the invention of the TomSwifty.

* TamoraPierce tended to do this early on; it's most noticeable in [[Literature/SongOfTheLioness the Alanna books]].

* In one ''TomorrowStories'' special, Splash Brannigan decides to act like a FilmNoir-slash-dime novel hero, and narrates everything that happens to him. So this is how conversations go with him
-->'''Splash:''' "Take it easy, toots!", I screamed. "I'm simply considering a career as a 1930's film noir detective!"
-->'''Daisy:''' But it's 2005! You'll never find suitable premises!
-->'''Splash:''' ...she moaned, seductively.

* "The word said is to prose what the arrow of a word balloon is to comics", NeilGaiman blogged.

* The fantasy author [[MythAdventures Robert Lynn Asprin]] is another who sometimes had problems with this.
** Characters in the [[MythAdventures Myth Adventures]] will often "retort" to something "argued" to them.

* ''MyImmortal'' has a sequence of these in Chapter 6, which the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_uioZd3XJg dramatic reading]] inevitably [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]].

** DaveBarry's ''Twilight'' parody ''Fangs of Endearment'' does it on every single dialogue tag.

* ''TheGreatGatsby'' is not only full of these, it's full of redundant ones, like "snorted contemptuously."

* In ''ASongOfIceAndFire'', there is a character called Hodor, who has a VerbalTicName: the only word he can speak is "Hodor". The prose is fond of sentences like: "''Hodor'', Hodor agreed." or "''Hodor'', Hodor protested.", to convey the emotion of the character's speech. Also [[BuffySpeak reinsubverted or something]] on at least one occasion in which the word "hodor" is used ''as'' a SaidBookism in-universe.

** "Catelyn admitted", "Tyrion pointed out", "Ned replied"... the series tend to have this pop up quite frequently, though aversions happen a lot as well.

* Many English classes in American schools specifically require students to write this way as well as proscribing all use of "be" verbs (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been). It can almost seem as if they are trying to sabotage future writers.
* Completely averted in Russian - if you don't use Said Bookism, you will be considered an okay writer at best.

* The trope name comes from the ''Webpage/TurkeyCityLexicon'', which lists it as a common mistake made by beginning writers.

* The trope name comes from the ''TurkeyCityLexicon'', which lists it as a common mistake made by beginning writers.