Said

This is a super fun game. Remember when you were, like, 8 and your teacher taught you the importance of using words other than "said"? Well, your teacher was a fucking liar. Sure, once in a while you can throw in a "replied" or "yelled" for flavor, but really, if your readers are paying more attention to your word choice than what's actually happening in your story, you're doing it wrong. When in doubt, just use "said." I'm so serious here.


Just for fun, I opened to a random page in Twilight, and here are all the different words used in the course of a conversation:

reminded
glanced
breathed
guessed
whispered
smiled
told
asked
smoldered
scoffed
teased
sighed
chuckled
warned

That's two pages of a conversation. Here are some other great ones:

mused
muttered
laughed
repeated
noted
admitted
complained
managed
pointed out
continued
snickered
assured
demanded
begged
warned
groaned
called
moaned
gasped
reassured
added
contradicted
accused
replied
fluttered -- no joke
called
insisted
grumbled
responded
threatened
countered
stuttered
verified
mumbled
smiled
grinned
laughed
snapped
murmured
recalled
objected
offered
agreed
grimaced
informed
enthused -- should not be a word, BTW
began
encouraged
considered
complimented
promised
volunteered
paused
purred
screamed
commented
frowned
exhaled
giggled
commanded
croaked
ordered
clarified
babbled
yelled
criticized
realized
protested
confessed
went on
prompted
suggested
bargained
growled
qualified -- fuck, really?
pleaded
stalled
shouted
snapped
probed
hesitated
stopped
challenged -- still going...
answered
decided
blushed
wondered
hissed
hedged
nodded
exaggerated
hoped
pushed
urged

And I'm sure it keeps going, but I really don't see the point of wasting any more of my life on this crap. Some of these words don't even mean "said." They mean "I'm trying too hard."

Just say "said." Please.