The order of says in the present tense
Here are two lines of dialog:
"I don't know what order to put this in," says Max. "I don't know what order to put this in," Max says.
When is it better to use one over the other? Is one preferred over the other in writing? Should you keep the same order throughout the entire piece? If you should swap the order are there rules about when it would be good to use one over the other?
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1 answer
I don't believe that one is preferred over the other or that you have to be consistent. However, I do believe that they signal something slightly different, at least in certain locales.
In the England I grew up in, "says Max" signals that Max's interjection is unexpected or cheeky. It might be used where a child interjects something into an adult conversation, for instance.
Whether that subtlety is more widespread or still current, however, is more than I can say.
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