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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/8122
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/8122
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I don't have a problem with them (they're called _bookisms,_ I believe) _if_:

1. **You don't overdo it.** It's tempting to make every dialogue tag something vivid or extra. Don't. D.W. Smith pointed out in a writing tutorial once that "the word _said_ is invisible." It really is. Be judicious with bookisms. Think of them as salt: a little is good; too much ruins the dish.
2. **You use them when they are necessary.** That is, you use "sighed" because it conveys extra meaning which would otherwise be lost, and which can't be conveyed another way. For example: `"'I hate you,' she crooned."` _Crooned_ means something very specific which is very difficult to describe using `she said with TKTKTK.` (Credit Kate Sherwood)

Other answers which will be useful to you:

[Attributives in dialogue](https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/4751/attributives-in-dialogue/4753)

[I'm getting tired of "he said" "she said" in dialogue; how do I get around it?](https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/3161/im-getting-tired-of-he-said-she-said-in-dialogue-how-do-i-get-around-it)

[Dialog, just what's the best way to write it?](https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/1861/dialog-just-whats-the-best-way-to-write-it/1870)

Original score: 10