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Q&A Writing "hahaha" versus describing the laugh

Dialogue quotes are for things a character actually says. If your character says "hahaha" then fine. But I've never heard anyone do that. You might get a single "ha!" but that's an exclamation n...

posted 5y ago by Cyn‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-20T00:40:44Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45261
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 · 2019-12-08T11:55:22Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45261
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T11:55:22Z (about 5 years ago)
# Dialogue quotes are for things a character actually says.

If your character says "hahaha" then fine. But I've never heard anyone do that. You might get a single "ha!" but that's an exclamation not a laugh. Or someone might say "ha ha" (or even "ha ha ha") sarcastically. Again, not a laugh.

If you want to tell your readers that your character laughed then, yeah, you need to just say so. If the laughing comes _during_ the dialogue, you can use a laughing tag. Stylistically, many people recommend against using tags that aren't your basic "said" or "asked" but you can get away with a few.

> "It's...I can't even explain it," Griselda laughed.

Or you can describe the action directly.

> Griselda laughed. "That's...just wow."

Using the phrase "hahaha" to indicate that someone is laughing is perfectly legitimate in texts, emails, and other informal settings. Don't use it in your writing.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-05-19T18:10:04Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 32