Carolynn’s Clues :: Discussing Heroines Who Huff

Although many of my blogs here will relate to questions of grammar and usage, I will occasionally dip into the craft of writing. After all, although I was an editor for many years, I am also a fiction writer and enjoy studying both grammar and writing.

Which leads me to today’s topic on writers using the word “huff.”

The last three books I’ve read featured characters who either huffed dialogue (as in, “Unhand me, you cad,” she huffed) or just plain huffed (as in, “He shook his finger in her face. She huffed.”)

Prior to my reading these three books, I don’t recall ever having seen the word “huff” used as a tag for dialogue or as a way of describing a character’s reaction.

And frankly, while I was reading those three books, I found that I really disliked the word because it always pulled me out of the story. I would pause in my reading, trying to visualize the heroine huffing. (First of all, I had to get past the visualization of people huffing paint fumes in order to get high. Fortunately, in the context of the books I was reading, that definition of huffing didn’t apply.)

The second visualization that came to my mind was that of the wolf “huffing and puffing” and blowing houses down in the old story about the three little pigs. Again, not an attractive picture, at least for a heroine.

So exactly how does one huff? I decided to research the question. The definitions I found included “to puff or blow,” “to make noisy threats,” “to bluster,” and “to breathe heavily.” Of the various definitions, “to speak indignantly” was the one that most closely fit in the context of the sentences I’d read in which “huffed” was used as a tag for dialogue.

But if an author wants the heroine to speak indignantly, why not write, “Unhand me, you cad,” she said, waving her fist in his face (or some more imaginative way to show the heroine’s emotions)? But “huffed”? Excuse me; that’s just weak.

Or am I missing something? Is huff a word that is taking on a new and popular meaning? If you’re a writer, do you use “huff”? If you’re a reader, does the word “huff” bother you or do you even notice its use? I’d love to hear your opinion.

An afterword:
A couple of days after I wrote the preceding, I ran across another use of the word “huff” in yet another book, and this time I had no problem with this particular author’s usage. Her sentence read, “She huffed her breath out in a sigh.” Okay, I can totally visualize this. I can even do it, filling my cheeks with air and blowing it out slowly through my lips.

So maybe there is a place for the word “huff” after all. On rather rare occasions, I would hope. Certainly not more than once or twice in an entire book.

But I’d still like your opinion. To huff dialogue or not? Or do you care one way or the other?

Leave a comment and I’ll pick two folks at random to receive a copy of Dealing with Denver, my contemporary romance set in a small Tennessee town where absolutely no one huffs.

Tagged as: Dealing with Denver, dialogue tags, huff, Writing