78 Words Instead of Ask for Significantly Better Dialog tags

78 Words Instead of Ask.

Using other words instead of ask will spice up your dialog.

Ask is a common word used when writing dialog. Using alternate words to replace ask gives you the opportunity to add emotion to your dialog.

There is some controversy among writers about using other words beside said and ask.

Many writers believe said and ask are invisible. They believe using alternate words is distracting. These writers feel that by using other words instead of ask the writer is adding their own comments to the dialog.

We created this list because we disagree with that philosophy. We believe that using strong verbs to replace ask will strengthen our dialog.

I will admit that the words your character says are immensely more important than the dialog tag. But that doesn’t mean a stronger tag does not improve the dialog.

Strong Verbs Instead of Ask

One of the main purposes of dialog is to give your readers a glimpse into your character’s attitudes.

Obviously, there is a great difference between a speaker who asks and a speaker who demands.

Consider these examples:

He asked her. He interrogated her.

He grilled her. He implored her.

Can you see how writing with strong verbs instead of ask can add to the characterization of the people who are speaking? To us, using strong verbs instead of ask creates more powerful dialog.

We are all striving to be better writers. Dialog is an essential part of storytelling. With practice, you can learn to write meaningful dialog. This list is a great tool to make your dialog more vibrant. Vivid words bring dialog to life.

Grab a PDF list of 78 Strong Verbs to use Instead of Ask

Adding Adverbs to Dialog Tags

Some writers like to add adverbs like loudly or shyly. To us, adverbs tend to dilute the power of the dialog. We developed this list because we were looking for strong verbs that would eliminate the use of adverbs.

Strong, descriptive verbs create killer speech tags. A speech tag should provide valuable clues about which character is speaking and how they are saying it. That’s what this list is for.

Since you are here, you must agree with our philosophy about dialog tags. So here is our list of strong, descriptive verbs to replace ask. We believe they will add pizzazz to your speech tags.

Here are 78 words you can use to replace Ask

Craved Griped interpreted petitioned demanded Examined interjected Disputed Complained Incited Pumped protested doubted commanded solicited Deliberated petition supplicated proposed pry prompted Queried Requested investigated encouraged Provoked Entreated grilled invited appealed Plead studied revised dubious beseech Scrutinize disputed doubted undecided Urged Begged meddled Pushed compelled snooped Suspected Dug jabbed pressed Quizzed searched explored pried meddled Surveyed prodded delved Interfered studied explored implored needled Considered Inspected analyzed probed Deliberated clarified debrief wished Question inquire query seek search objected checked reviewed pop the question

Punctuating Dialog

One problem we encountered was punctuating dialog correctly. It was difficult to remember when to use a comma and when to use a period. So, we created a cheat sheet. As a bonus today, you can download this cheat sheet for yourselves.