Use alternatives to “said”

Not only should you not use a narration tag on every single line of dialogue, as mentioned in the previous tips, but you should also consider using alternatives to said when you do use a narration tag.

There are plenty of lists online for words to indicate someone is talking, and some of these lists are even split by emotion or type of dialogue.

Instead of writing “he said softly”, write “he murmured”, or “he mumbled”, or “he whispered”.

Instead of writing “she said loudly”, write “she screamed”, or “she shouted”, or “she screeched”.

If a character is asking a question, write “they asked,” or “they inquired”, instead of the classic “said”. Someone is answering the question? “They responded”, “they replied”, “they offered”.

Said is an easy word to repeat and reuse until it becomes stale. It’s also quite easy to find alternatives, and I suggest doing as such. It’ll make your dialogues feel more alive, the character’s voices will sound better in the reader’s head if they know what kind of emotion their words are supposed to have.