Speaker Attributes
T here is a difference of opinion about Speaker Attributes . Some authors, such Brandilyn Collins make a point of avoiding speaker attributes . These authors will often replace a speaker attribute with an action beat. For example, The Martian said, “Take me to your leader.” would become The Martian pointed with his three fingered hand. “Take me to your leader.” On the other hand, some authors would say that this line would be better written as The Martian pointed with his three fingered hand as he said, “Take me to your leader.” The problem that people have with speaker attributes is that in some exchanges they can be tiresome: “Give it to me,” he said. “No,” she said. “Why not?” he asked. “Because,” she said. A page full of that and the reader will quickly grow tired. For that matter, the author will grow tired of writing the word said . Let’s take that same exchange and rewrite it so those speaker attributes aren’t so tedious: Bob and April were walking to class one spring day....