Jake said, Ax said, Rachel said... Have you ever noticed it's always the same?

[Andalite_Shorm]

Okay, I was looking at some new Animorphs books of mine and I noticed that K.A. always says, "Jake said, "Bla, bla..." or "Bla, bla..." Jake said. Never, "Bla, bla..." said Jake or...you get the idea. Is this something to do with the fact it's going my first...what's it called? Person? Or is it view... you know like "I said this, I did that instead of Jake did this.... God, this is long. And boring. Anyway, or is it just a strange thing that they've never said, "said Jake?" (I'm not getting at she says "said" all the time I mean instead of  replied X it's X replied.


{Soooooo many Jakes!}

[VisserZer0]

I highly doubt there's any actual significance to this. Probably just lack of variety on KA's/the ghostwritres' parts. Or it could just be the fact that Animorphs isn't really at a high reading level. *shrug* I don't know.

[Josh (J)]

I've never paid attention to that...I'll need to go and look.

[LisaCharly]

Personally, while it's grammatically fine, "said XXX" always reads really awkwardly to me.

[NateSean]

It's a pretty standard way to write.

You never want your story to become bogged down by too many variations on Said and "Asked". English teachers only want to scare you at first so that you know the rules.

[TobiasMasonPark]

     I rarely ever use the other variation. Something about "Let's do it!" said Rachel that's off putting. Even I get stuck in the Jake Said, Rachel Asked, Tobias replied. But a lot of the time, he said she said works best.

[Funky Poacher]

Yes, it was terribly annoying, and I always noticed it when I first read it, but now that I'm re-reading the series? I want to pull my hair out. I'm going with the already offered suggestion: the books weren't written at the highest calibre.

[Terenia]

It's a pretty standard way to write.

You never want your story to become bogged down by too many variations on Said and "Asked". English teachers only want to scare you at first so that you know the rules.

Hey, now. Don't go giving away our secrets!

>_> But yeah. "Said" synonyms often seem superfluous or forced, like you're trying to make your eighth grade English teacher happy. They make sense and are useful at intervals, but sometimes it is okay to just say "said"...

[NateSean]

Hey, now. Don't go giving away our secrets!

Just giving away the most important one.

That being said, here is an article on our good friend Tom Swifty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swifty

[Stephquiem]

Said X is considered an old-fashioned way of writing. In American English writing, anyway, I don't know what the standard is elsewhere.

[wildweathel]

I'm not really sure what the difference is between "said X" and "X said," though it seems authors pick one and stick with it.

Actually, I happen to have a bookshelf nearby so let's take a look...

(Commonwealth English:)
Tolkien, The Return of the King: said X
Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: said X
Courtenay, The Power of One: X said

(American English)
George Speare, The Sign of the Beaver: X said
Craighead George, Frightful's Mountain:  X said
Snicket, The Ersatz Elevator: X said
Paolini, Eragon: said X

I prefer "said X" in my own writing; I suppose that makes me unusual for an American.  With nouns, neither order sounds any less natural.  Pronouns are different: "said he" sounds archaic/poetic.

[Phoenix004]

Been a while since I've read the books, but I seem to recall this being less of an issue in later books. I do remember it being mildly annoying in the first book, but put it down to it being aimed at younger readers (the later books are also, but to a lesser extent) and possibly the fact that KA wasn't as experienced a writer back then. We all improve with time and practice.

[wildweathel]

I picked up Jacques' Mossflower (one of my absolute favorite authors), curious which camp he falls in.

Two chapters and nine pages later, I do not know, because I've only caught him using a dialog tag once--and then, not even a generic "said."  (For the record it was "Gingivere answered.")  And these were not description or action scenes or some sissy two-character dialogs: in the first, Gonff is talking to the entire Stickle family, and in the second, Martin has been captured and brought before Verdauga, his two kids, our two shadowy Rasputin knock-offs, and a whole castleful of assorted henchmen.

There is never any difficulty telling who is saying what.  (The occasional line goes unattributed, but if so, it's by some extra who doesn't matter anyway.)  How does he do it?  Usually with this pattern:

X did some action.  "Dialog."

No need for "said."  They are replaced by a constant stream of small acts.  The characters come to life.  Action and dialog have become one.  Talking is no longer a Free Action. 

I am in awe.

[LisaCharly]

Yeah, that's generally how I write. It kind of just gets rid of that debate entirely!

It's a pretty standard way to write.

You never want your story to become bogged down by too many variations on Said and "Asked". English teachers only want to scare you at first so that you know the rules.

No, I mean, "X said" sounds better to me than "said X".

That said, I've never totally bought the hatred for variations on 'said', but then again, I don't see the inherent evil in adverbs either. I'm much more wary of too many adjectives in a sentence.

[TobiasMasonPark]

     I was just thinking about "Like Setting up Punchlines" (brilliant title, by the way). In that story it's mostly dialogue, which makes it sound like the characters are talking to each other in your head. So, in something like that, I guess there isn't much need for the overused He Said She said.

     By the way, what do the Ghost writers use? Was there ever a person who used "said Jake," rather than the Jake said?