57 Ways to Describe Talking in a Novel
People have lots of different ways to talk. Some use lots of hand gestures, some are clipped, some barely move their faces. In writing, it’s important to include those details–especially if they’re unique–so readers feel more like they’re involved in the conversation. Here’s a list I collected of favorite ways my favorite authors have verbalized ‘talking’ in their novels.
A note: These are for inspiration only. They can’t be copied because they’ve been pulled directly from an author’s copyrighted manuscript (intellectual property is immediately copyrighted when published).
Talking
rolls eyes up to the right and makes wide hand movements just as he’s about to pontificate (Bill O’Reilly)
Nibbled at a fingernail
Janice talked so much it was like drowning in a verbal Niagara Falls.
Dropping last three words of a sentence to a grumble
Buffalo area accent
Whistles when s/he speaks s���s
His voice trailed off; the conclusions was inescapable
���who is it?��� a whiskey-soaked voice asked
Spoke in a hoarse whisper
Made a muffled squeak
Said absently
Spoke in a voice she couldn���t decipher
Voice was clipped and filled with a dark rage
Had a little girl voice that stopped just short of lisping
hollow voice
fists balled tightly, eyes staring blankly
She asked between bites of calamari
Voice low and gravely
Voice cracked and raw
Speaking in quiet tones
Hadn���t realized she was holding her breath
Said coolly
Her voice was soft and measured like a guy trying to overcome a stutter
��Breathy explosion of words
voice detached and clinical
voice thick with conviction, guilt
Tone weary, but cheerful
Dropping into topics she cared passionately about but she didn���t comment
His tone stiff and surly
British accent that made every word she uttered seem charged with import and authority
Voice was pinched
His toned walked the line between bitterness and incredulity
The irritate tone that men reserve for women they think are slow or stupid.
Quite a coincidence, his voice made it clear it was anything but
Tone could have frozen peas
He could detect fear in her voice, and anger, but also curiosity. Which was what he wanted.
Flat and steady, but tight as a plucked wire
Voice that could cut glass
Said in a calm, unhurried voice
Jinn nodded, but it took him a moment to find his voice
The tone said order could prevail over chaos
Said absently as the printer spun out more paper
I beckon Tooley to proceed
The playfulness fell away like a discarded cloak
A heavy sigh
The dry cackle of someone who has outlived her enemies
FucknoIdidn���t���delivered as one word
No, yes, maybe, I don���t know���Shit! Half-smile in place like a casual piece of armor
���I don���t know��� Again, too rapid
He said it too fast and too loudly
She yelped
I sense a but coming
Yes, she lied
Meaningless gibberish
Like what, I said around the bite
chuckled in spite of himself
Conversation with you is like trying to teach someone the recipe for ice water
It was clearly one of those weaponized sentences that get flung out to hurt, to end conversations
Maybe. She drew out the word and he knew she didn���t believe it.
Wished him a perfunctory, Good luck
Words were as bracing as a slap in the face
Utterances freighted with wit and irony
I was 15, as if that explained everything
She willed the anger out of her voice.
Speaking
He waited for me to speak
seemed about to speak, but the thread eluded him
swallowed a string of profanities
You lost your ability to hurt me a long time ago���half true.
Look this is a two-way street. I want some information. ���Wrong. I���m a Mack truck and you���re an egg���.
Wanted to say ****. Doesn���t say any of that
he said with quiet intensity, making eye contact with as many people in the room as he could
Anger crept into his voice
Bark out critical info in short sharp yelps
Tight-lipped
Anna waited until he grunted back
Anna fished his name out of the fog of conversation
He wondered briefly
Segued to a different topic,
And how about those green beans
Voice low, tone uncertain
Something like a sigh
Words were slurred and lisping
Mouth turned up a fraction of an inch
Spittle on his lips
She refrained from adding, ������
���my thinking is���
���I���m of the opinion that���
his grammar and syntax were good
She digressed
Her words seemed to lead me close, in hopes I���d provide my own answers
The comment wasn���t a question
She took his word for it
His thin voice took on a pedantic tone
The babble of talk died at his entry.
��His voice hardened as he spoke
The name tasted like a mouthful of food gone bad
remark came out of left field, and she could only stare at him
The ways she pronounced her vowels, consonants, her syntax, tonal quality of her pronunciations
Sentences had a practiced feel, as though she���d said them many times before
Voice
Flemy voice
Woman with a man���s voice
-sh comes out as an ���s, like ���negotiations
The ���s whistles when he says it
Chiara always sang when she was happy
Chuck Frye, former 2nd best surfer
Growing up in communist Poland on a diet of powdered milk, Lord of the Rings and soviet science-fiction
More descriptions for writers:
How to Talk Like a��Southerner
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman
, the story of her daughter���s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today���s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher���s website, Structured Learning.��
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