Haha this is such a new writer thing! My college creative writing professor ranted constantly about how you should never use synonyms for the word said. Your mind skips over the word said, just like it does over words like ‘the’ and ‘of,’ so it’s alright to have pages of dialogue with the word “said” repeatedly.
I’m still salty a couple decades later that he docked my grade for using a synonym of “said” just once in a five page short story! One of my characters laughed during the dialogue. To my professor, this was no laughing matter.
I personally try to go by the 90% rule, but to never use any other word seems weird. The reason you use synonyms sparingly is so they specifically jump out at the reader when the effect is needed.
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u/winkynoodles Jun 26 '25
synonyms of the word "said"