On Fri, 21 Feb 1997 21:47:39 -0500 (EST), Jang Choe wrote:

ah, but do they really compilment the words? I see some hack writers
trying to add meaning to there story by adding beats and never using
"saids". I didn't say you ALWAYS have to write "he said," "she said," or
whatever. Beats are there to break up the monotony of he saids, and to
build tension, or the convey a certain emotion to the scene. I never
said you should NEVER put beats in either. It seems that people are afraid
of using he saids, and put beats in instead. For both of our sakes, I'll
say this. Put in beats where appriate, don't overuse it becuase it can get
pointless and distracting.

"Baka," Akane said.
Akane rolled her eyes. "Baka."
"Baka . . ." Akane said softly
She reached for her ever trusting mallet. "BAKA!"

I agree with this. I would add, though, that if people are over- (or under-)
using beats, then this should be specifically pointed out to them. I know that
at least for me it can be difficult to catch things like this in my own writing.
I appreciate someone telling me when I've screwed up so I can fix it.

Gary Kleppe
kleppe@execpc.com, Home page http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe
My fanfics and the FFML map are on my comics/manga page,
       http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics