Writing “hahaha” versus describing the laughDialog, just what's the best way to write it?Is this dialogue and situation intriguing (short story)?Does the following piece have too much dry narration (mundane tasks, moving about)?How to depict Australian charactersHow do I make an ESL character sound realistic?How realistic should dialogue and character voices be?Describing the differences between languagesOnomatopoeia usage, how much of it detracts from the story?How do I contrast the thought processes of different characters in one scene?Punctuating dialogue that is interrupted by thoughts/internal monologue rather than action?
AD: Unable to perform remote desktop logon
Download app bundles from App Store to run on iOS Emulator on Mac
Existence of a model of ZFC in which the natural numbers are really the natural numbers
How to tease a romance without a cat and mouse chase?
Caught with my phone during an exam
Make the `diff` command look only for differences from a specified range of lines
why "American-born", not "America-born"?
Find this Unique UVC Palindrome ( ignoring signs and decimal) from Given Fractional Relationship
Island Perimeter
How did the Allies achieve air superiority on Sicily?
Shell builtin `printf` line limit?
Is it OK to look at the list of played moves during the game to determine the status of the 50 move rule?
Keeping the dodos out of the field
What does it mean for something to be strictly less than epsilon for an arbitrary epsilon?
Is ideal gas incompressible?
How to make Flex Markers appear in Logic Pro X?
csname in newenviroment
Meaning of "half-crown enclosure"
Computing elements of a 1000x60 matrix exhausts RAM
Ribbon Cable Cross Talk - Is there a fix after the fact?
Way of refund if scammed?
(For training purposes) Are there any openings with rook pawns that are more effective than others (and if so, what are they)?
How could the B-29 bomber back up under its own power?
Are there historical examples of audiences drawn to a work that was "so bad it's good"?
Writing “hahaha” versus describing the laugh
Dialog, just what's the best way to write it?Is this dialogue and situation intriguing (short story)?Does the following piece have too much dry narration (mundane tasks, moving about)?How to depict Australian charactersHow do I make an ESL character sound realistic?How realistic should dialogue and character voices be?Describing the differences between languagesOnomatopoeia usage, how much of it detracts from the story?How do I contrast the thought processes of different characters in one scene?Punctuating dialogue that is interrupted by thoughts/internal monologue rather than action?
When posting an excerpt of my book on a critiquing site, someone commented on my use of "hahaha" inside the dialogue instead of just having a laughing verb after or before it. They said it took them out of the reading. Obviously, this is subjective, so rather I will ask this:
Which alternative is the most popular and professional? Which do you see the most in writing?
dialogue description
edited 5 hours ago
Cyn
21.7k146102
asked 5 hours ago
A. KvåleA. Kvåle
684520
add a comment |
When posting an excerpt of my book on a critiquing site, someone commented on my use of "hahaha" inside the dialogue instead of just having a laughing verb after or before it. They said it took them out of the reading. Obviously, this is subjective, so rather I will ask this:
Which alternative is the most popular and professional? Which do you see the most in writing?
dialogue description
edited 5 hours ago
Cyn
21.7k146102
asked 5 hours ago
A. KvåleA. Kvåle
684520
add a comment |
When posting an excerpt of my book on a critiquing site, someone commented on my use of "hahaha" inside the dialogue instead of just having a laughing verb after or before it. They said it took them out of the reading. Obviously, this is subjective, so rather I will ask this:
Which alternative is the most popular and professional? Which do you see the most in writing?
dialogue description
edited 5 hours ago
Cyn
21.7k146102
asked 5 hours ago
A. KvåleA. Kvåle
684520
When posting an excerpt of my book on a critiquing site, someone commented on my use of "hahaha" inside the dialogue instead of just having a laughing verb after or before it. They said it took them out of the reading. Obviously, this is subjective, so rather I will ask this:
Which alternative is the most popular and professional? Which do you see the most in writing?
dialogue description
dialogue description
edited 5 hours ago
Cyn
21.7k146102
asked 5 hours ago
A. KvåleA. Kvåle
684520
edited 5 hours ago
Cyn
21.7k146102
asked 5 hours ago
A. KvåleA. Kvåle
684520
edited 5 hours ago
Cyn
21.7k146102
edited 5 hours ago
Cyn
21.7k146102
edited 5 hours ago
Cyn
21.7k146102
21.7k146102
asked 5 hours ago
A. KvåleA. Kvåle
684520
asked 5 hours ago
A. KvåleA. Kvåle
684520
asked 5 hours ago
A. KvåleA. Kvåle
684520
684520
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
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.
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
21.7k146102
add a comment |
+1 to Cyn, much my answer; use a tag. I can add, I use a single "Ha!" a handful of times in a book. You can also describe the laugh in more detail; Griselda laughed, and covered her mouth as she did for a few seconds. "Oh my god!" I would increase the visual of that, there must be twenty kinds of laughing.
To me this goes for all verbal sound effects; I find it off-putting in novels when an author tries to simulate the sound of screams, moaning (in pleasure or pain), singing, grunting, or inarticulate anger.
Use tags, or just say "Mike grunted." Or describe them, use a metaphor, or an adjective.
answered 3 hours ago
AmadeusAmadeus
61.3k678195
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "166"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fwriting.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f45260%2fwriting-hahaha-versus-describing-the-laugh%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
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.
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
21.7k146102
add a comment |
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.
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
21.7k146102
add a comment |
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.
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
21.7k146102
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.
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
21.7k146102
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
21.7k146102
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
21.7k146102
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
21.7k146102
21.7k146102
add a comment |
add a comment |
+1 to Cyn, much my answer; use a tag. I can add, I use a single "Ha!" a handful of times in a book. You can also describe the laugh in more detail; Griselda laughed, and covered her mouth as she did for a few seconds. "Oh my god!" I would increase the visual of that, there must be twenty kinds of laughing.
To me this goes for all verbal sound effects; I find it off-putting in novels when an author tries to simulate the sound of screams, moaning (in pleasure or pain), singing, grunting, or inarticulate anger.
Use tags, or just say "Mike grunted." Or describe them, use a metaphor, or an adjective.
answered 3 hours ago
AmadeusAmadeus
61.3k678195
add a comment |
+1 to Cyn, much my answer; use a tag. I can add, I use a single "Ha!" a handful of times in a book. You can also describe the laugh in more detail; Griselda laughed, and covered her mouth as she did for a few seconds. "Oh my god!" I would increase the visual of that, there must be twenty kinds of laughing.
To me this goes for all verbal sound effects; I find it off-putting in novels when an author tries to simulate the sound of screams, moaning (in pleasure or pain), singing, grunting, or inarticulate anger.
Use tags, or just say "Mike grunted." Or describe them, use a metaphor, or an adjective.
answered 3 hours ago
AmadeusAmadeus
61.3k678195
add a comment |
+1 to Cyn, much my answer; use a tag. I can add, I use a single "Ha!" a handful of times in a book. You can also describe the laugh in more detail; Griselda laughed, and covered her mouth as she did for a few seconds. "Oh my god!" I would increase the visual of that, there must be twenty kinds of laughing.
To me this goes for all verbal sound effects; I find it off-putting in novels when an author tries to simulate the sound of screams, moaning (in pleasure or pain), singing, grunting, or inarticulate anger.
Use tags, or just say "Mike grunted." Or describe them, use a metaphor, or an adjective.
answered 3 hours ago
AmadeusAmadeus
61.3k678195
+1 to Cyn, much my answer; use a tag. I can add, I use a single "Ha!" a handful of times in a book. You can also describe the laugh in more detail; Griselda laughed, and covered her mouth as she did for a few seconds. "Oh my god!" I would increase the visual of that, there must be twenty kinds of laughing.
To me this goes for all verbal sound effects; I find it off-putting in novels when an author tries to simulate the sound of screams, moaning (in pleasure or pain), singing, grunting, or inarticulate anger.
Use tags, or just say "Mike grunted." Or describe them, use a metaphor, or an adjective.
answered 3 hours ago
AmadeusAmadeus
61.3k678195
answered 3 hours ago
AmadeusAmadeus
61.3k678195
answered 3 hours ago
AmadeusAmadeus
61.3k678195
answered 3 hours ago
AmadeusAmadeus
61.3k678195
61.3k678195
add a comment |
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to Writing Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fwriting.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f45260%2fwriting-hahaha-versus-describing-the-laugh%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
