It is almost always better to use the verb said when you are reporting someone’s words.

Newspaper and other journalist’s style guides disagree over whether to use the past tense (said) or present tense (says). It doesn’t matter which one choose, just stick with one and, for the most part, make sure you use the same tense throughout. There are times when you may need to write someone says this now, but said something different in the past.

While you can legitimately use said even with written words -  if you are quoting what someone wrote in an email or in a Twitter tweet – it is better to make it clear the person wasn’t talking at the time.

The alternatives to said are often pompous or value-laden. I once worked with a fellow journalist who sprinkled his copy with words like averred or commented. Neither word adds any useful information and may frighten off some readers.

It’s possible readers will interpret other alternatives as suggesting the speaker is lying or misinformed. Think of claimed or according to.

One alternative I allow myself is the verb ask, but only when someone is clearly asking a question.

Fiction writer Elemore Leonard has another perspective on this. In his excellent Ten rules of writing he says:

Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with “she asseverated,” and had to stop reading to get the dictionary.

Leonard writes fast-paced fiction with terrific dialogue, if sticking with ’said’ is good enough for him, it’s  good enough for the rest of us.

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There’s nothing wrong with writing lists – they work well online where attention spans are shorter.

If the list items are short, you can use bullet points. Or, if the order is important, choose numbered bullets.

Both make text easy to scan and read quickly.

Another, more elegant, approach is to write a variation on the following theme:

First, something happened. Second, something else. Next, we used a little elegant variation to make things more interesting. Then, we did this. Last, we finished up.

Spell out the words from first to ninth* then write 10th, 15th, hundredth.

Some people use firstly, secondly, thirdly and so on. While strictly speaking both approaches are grammatically correct, I’d argue adding -ly is old-fashioned and unnecessarily fussy.

What’s more, you’ll end up looking silly if you want to deal with lots of items and reach eleventhly or even millionthly.

So, stick with the simpler format.

* or perhaps tenth. This depends on your taste or house style, but remember to stay consistent.

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