I keep seeing people making fun of using growled, hissed, roared, snarled etc in writing and it’s like.
have you never heard someone speak with the gravel in their voice when they get angry? Because that’s what a growl is.
Have you never heard someone sharply whisper something through the thin space of their teeth? Or when your mother sharply told you to stop it in public as a kid when you were acting up/being too loud? Because that’s what a hiss is.
Have you never heard a man get so blackout angry that their voice BOOMS through the house? Because that’s what a roar is.
Have you never seen someone bare their teeth while talking to accentuate their frustration or anger while speaking with a vicious tone? Because that’s what snarling is.
It’s not meant to be a literal animal noise. For the love of god, not every description is literal. I get some people are genuinely confused, but also some of these people are genuinely unimaginative as fuck.
This for real. Alllllllll of this. All of these sounds are the way different people speak based on their emotions. A snarl is not going GRAWR like a dog. It's so furious their teeth are bared, every syllable sharp and cutting and loud. A growl is lower, the words dangerously rough and hot, a warning.
It's the same with softer sounds. A purr is that low, gravelly mmmmm noise of pleasure, or words warm and smooth as melted chocolate. When someone chirps, it's bright and happy and quick, the syllables a little clipped in excitement. Panting is not tongue lolling like a dog; it's a heaving chest and words that are half-breath.
This is what language, what storytelling IS. It's symbolic, it's imagination, it's metaphor and analogy and simile. Strip that away and all you have is textbook descriptions, which are of course useful when reading actual textbooks, but far less entertaining when reading a goddamn fictional story.
