Elmore Leonard on “said.”

The latest blog post over at ElmoreLeonard.com made by his assistant, Gregg Sutter, points readers to an audio interview with Leonard by Kendra Nordin about his Ten Rules of Writing, now in book form, plus a brief accompanying article by Elizabeth A. Brown. The article’s funny, and the interview is one of those rare instances … Read more

“You words are dead to me,” I [something besides ‘said’].

I apparently don’t agree with the North Carolina school systems. Deciding to give stumbleupon a try, I searched for “writing” and found a link to the Iredell-Stateseville school system website’s list of other words for “said.” The list includes words like “acknowledged,” “lectured,” “reassured,” “emphasized,” and “grinned.” Grinned? “Grinned” isn’t a synonym for “said,” it’s … Read more