Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Describing laughter in dialogue?

Handle laughter not as words spoken, but as a physical action. Looking at my own work, I just say "laughed." I never write multiple "Ha". I have written, Jack was amused. "Ha. Then we'll char...

posted 6y ago by Amadeus‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-19T22:13:05Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30972
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:00:11Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30972
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T05:00:11Z (over 4 years ago)
### Handle laughter not as words spoken, but as a physical action.

Looking at my own work, I just say "laughed."

I never write multiple "Ha". I have written,

> Jack was amused. "Ha. Then we'll charge 'em for the visit, too."
> 
> Richard laughed.

IRL, I hear people sometimes say "Ha" or "Heh" when amused, as an actual word. But I consider an actual **_laugh_** an action.

Analogously, I hear "Ow", "Ouch", "Oy" as actual voiced words (depending on culture) that indicate pain was felt, but I wouldn't try to put into voice a scream or other such vocalizations (grunts, moans, crying) that I consider to be more actions than words.

I can't spell out a laugh, or a scream, or the sound somebody makes when sliced by a sword, or the heavy breathing sounds they make when panting after a long sprint.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-10-22T12:25:03Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 1