Good advice #6
Literati
What’s wrong with this dialogue between the two participants whose identity is already established?
“Did you pocket any silverware when you left?” asked Donald.
“No,” replied Barack.
asked Donald and replied Barack are redundant. Avoid redundancy and repeating yourself.
The question mark makes it clear something is being asked. We know without being told that Barack is replying, because, well, he is replying.
And with only two people in the dialogue, we don’t need to add attribution, which is also redundant.
Good advice? Avoid words like replied, answered, responded in dialogue where it is already clear that someone is answering, replying, or responding. Provide clarifying attribution only if your reader might not be certain who is speaking.
