Polter-fucking-Cow, alright?
Intellgent dude, P-C. Spends his Saturdays in the lab, making the future come true. If he wants to read the Harvey Comics version of science fiction in his off-time, that is his bidness.
Xander: I still don't get why we came here to get info about a killer snot monster. Giles: Because it's a killer snot monster from outer space. I did not say that.
'Never Leave Me'
The Minearverse 3: The Network Is a Harsh Mistress
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls and The Inside), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.
Gus - Jun 25, 2004 5:49:44 pm PDT #833 of 10001
Bag the crypto. Say what is on your mind.
Polter-Cow - Jun 25, 2004 6:39:11 pm PDT #834 of 10001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Lyra Jane - Jun 25, 2004 6:39:51 pm PDT #835 of 10001
Up with the sun
Journalists are taught to use said because other verbs often imply a judgement about the person. I think said is usually transparent, so I tend to use it myself, but there are plenty of situations where other words are better.
DXMachina - Jun 25, 2004 6:49:48 pm PDT #836 of 10001
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.
Polter, you should take that to spoilers and delete here.
Beverly - Jun 25, 2004 7:50:00 pm PDT #837 of 10001
Days shrink and grow cold, sunlight through leaves is my song. Winter is long.
On the said issue, I've always preferred an attribution by action.
"No," the conductor's baton descended in a savage stroke and he turned to the first violin. "Did you study music in a cave? Play that line again."
No "said" in sight.
Also, as much as I love Cherryh's sf, she's one of the few writers who can do lyrical mythology and fantasy just as well as hard-edged science.
victor infante - Jun 25, 2004 8:01:15 pm PDT #838 of 10001
To understand what happened at the diner, we shall use Mr. Papaya! This is upsetting because he's the friendliest of fruits.
On the "said" debate, I was an English major and I'm in favor of variety or nothing. Said for every single quote is boring and often just plain inaccurate.
As Lyra said (commented), a good many words have a subjective meaning. Consequently, context is everything. I work right now for a mainstream daily newspaper. We're pretty insistent on using "said." And really, there's only so artsy you can get when covering a zoning commission meeting. Other places I've worked, most notably alt. weeklies and other places where the flavor of the moment is more important than pinpoint objectivty, my subjects were free to guffaw and caterwaul and spit through clinched teeth.
Kristen - Jun 25, 2004 8:37:06 pm PDT #839 of 10001
One of the joys of screenplays. No "said" anywhere.
The Partyman - Jun 25, 2004 8:43:31 pm PDT #840 of 10001
[insert something funny here]
Randomly dropping in to add my two cents....
One of the joys of screenplays. No "said" anywhere.
Abso-fucking-lutely.
Kristen - Jun 25, 2004 8:47:23 pm PDT #841 of 10001
It's like Literature for the Attention Span Deficient.
ellemarie - Jun 26, 2004 2:16:31 am PDT #842 of 10001
My tagline and life are a work in progress.
As Lyra said (commented), a good many words have a subjective meaning. Consequently, context is everything. I work right now for a mainstream daily newspaper. We're pretty insistent on using "said."
Absolutely. Said in newspapers is just fine by me. Newspapers ought to be striving for objectivity and language is a huge part of that. (Although there are times when I think newspapers should give up on the objectivity thing and just go with their biases, trusting the readers to recognize them and adjust their understanding accordingly.) In literature, though, I generally expect and want subjective meaning.