Dialogue tags, or attributions, tell the reader who’s speaking. The default setting is he said/she said. Easy, right? Nice and straightforward, nothing complicated. It’s practically invisible, until the author throws forty-seven of them into one page. Some authors feel an overwhelming urge to spice things up and get creative; they want to make sure the reader really understands the dialogue and accompanying emotion. They bombard us with synonyms and avoid he said/she said as if they were fatal diseases. I’m reading a novel by a popular author, and came under an assault that very nearly made me put the book down. (Curiosity prompts me […]