'he said' or 'said he'? Does it matter?

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STING

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Is it '..., he said' or `..., said he'?
Is it `...., Peter said' or `..., said Peter'?

Are all these four acceptable?

1)`I love her,' he said.
2)`I love her,' said he.
3)`I love her,' Peter said.
4)`I love her,' said Peter.

It doesn't seem to me to be a style question or UK-US thing -- or is it? I have grappled with the issue for some time and, not finding any particular pattern or consistency, settled down to 'he said' and 'Peter said' with both pronouns and nouns (because this is more natural) and 'said Peter' when a clause follows the noun.

'I love her,' said Peter, who changed his girlfriends as often as he changed his shirts.

Here too there is no choice: 'I love her,' said the man in blue trousers.

I notice that many authors (including Teresa as in the following examples) use both while using names:

"To anything," said Ruan, without hesitation.
“[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]That is according to my instruction,” Camhóinhann said from his chair.[/FONT]

Does all this really matter?

And now that we are on the subject, what about these four?

5) He said, 'I love her.'
6) Said he, 'I love her.'
7) Peter said, 'I love her.'
8) Said Peter, 'I love her.'

And what about this one with colon? I like it but don't use it often.

9) He said: 'I love her.'

PS: 'I am Peter, said Peter' is perhaps better than 'I am Peter, Peter said.'
 
I generally stick to said Peter and he said, but I'm not wedded to them. (As you say, there are times when one's usual formulation reads worse than the alternative, and authors should aim for their text to read well.)

But to go through your list:

1, 3 and 4 are fine, I would suggest, in most situations. However 2 - "I love her," said he - sounds either arch or archaic (or, at least, out of fashion). Of course, if the writer's intention is to sound arch or old fashioned, this form is fine. The same could be said of 6 and 8, but see below.

Personally, I don't like 5 and 7, although I'm not quite sure why. Perhaps it's because it leaps a bit more out of the page. One of the advantages of the attribution, said, is that it's almost invisible: we take the information it imparts in our stride, whereas starting a sentence with X said puts it in the spotlight.

I have the same problem with 9, as you can't really use a colon without putting the X said in front of it.

With regards to your postscript: "I am Peter," said Peter and "I am Peter," Peter said. Both of these have a somewhat redundant attribution, unless subterfuge was involved, i.e. "I am Peter," said Paul or "I am Peter," Paul said. If subterfuge isn't involved (or even if it is), I would send to use indirect attribution: Peter turned to face the guard. "I am Peter." or He turned to face the guard. "I am Peter." (Or even Peter turned to face the guard. "I am he." depending on the circumstances.)
 
Hi,

I think, He said, Peter said and said Peter, are all fine. But to me 'said he' sounds either poetic or pretentious depending on where its used.

Cheers.
 
It really doesn't matter as long as it reads properly -- that is the main concern, though to give variety to one's prose and avoid reader fatigue it might be best not to stay with one form permanently to the exclusion of the others. That said, I agree with all Ursa's comments regarding the numbered points and the PS, save that I don't actively dislike 5 and 7, but I would personally use them only very rarely as they can impart an awkwardness to the rhythm of the sentence.
 
Thanks Ursa.

I should have said that I am Peter, said Peter was written in humour which I saw in a novel -- can't remember which one at the moment.
 
I assumed, because the examples were in a postscript, that your concern about that form wasn't that high, STING. :) However, being a minor pedant (with some hopes of progress to a higher plane of pedantry), I couldn't let them pass without an apparently serious pronouncement. ;):)
 
Stephen Palmer said:
I wouldn't use "said he" unless you're after a specific archaic style.
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I agree. I always keep it simple, (mostly) using "he said" if it is the pov character, or "Lisa said" is if it is not.

As long as you're not using "Peter said melodiously", if it suits the style of the rest of the prose it'll be ok. If the sentence works and doesn't take the reader out of the story then work away.
 
Small fish.

Most readers will be okay with all versions except 'said he' because it sounds awkward. 'Said' is often called an invisible word because we're so used to seeing it. So, naturally, any usage is correct as long as it doesn't call attention to itself.
 
Whichever one flows the best in context is probably the right choice.

I like "said he" for some specific circumstances -- for example, I used it in my 300-word story for the current challenge:

"We can change," said we, eager as puppies.

It just wasn't right the other way around. I tried it in the following line as well, but changed it back because that one didn't work. Your ear knows the difference.
 
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