❝ TWO ➜ INSTEAD OF SAID ❞
⤷ Requested by @sochathedragon

I'm sure all of us are guilty of using the infamous (or famous, depending on how you view it) word "said" excessively, no matter how much writing experience you have. I have, you have, all of your writing peers have, and even the most famous and professional authors have. Now, that doesn't mean you can't overcome the habit. It's very easy. You just have to know what to say instead of "said".

A variety of words are used to describe how characters in a story say things angrily, sadly, excitedly, etc., and there are so many to choose from to express you characters' feelings through their dialogue!

This doesn't mean that you can't use "said" at all. You can use it here and there, but not so much that there's no room for other words. I suggest you use adjectives to describe how a character is saying something if you do end up using the word "said". But if you don't, it's fine.

Before I continue with the list of words you can use, I would like you to know that even though you might be using "said" excessively now does not mean that you are a bad writer! Like I said before, plenty of legendary authors and simply popular authors do and did do that, and look where they are now! Don't give up on your dreams for such a simple problem!

ALL OF THESE WORDS WERE FOUND ON REEDSY.COM!

━━━  ❛ 𝘕𝘌𝘜𝘛𝘙𝘈𝘓/𝘔𝘜𝘓𝘛𝘐-𝘜𝘚𝘌 ❜ ｡ ｡ ｡
Acknowledged, added, agreed, announced, approved, articulated, asserted, backtracked, began, blurted, called, commented, communicated, conferred, considered, contended, declared, denoted, drawled, elaborated, emitted, ended, enunciated, expounded, expressed, greeted, interjected, mentioned, noted, observed, orated, persisted, predicted, pronounced, quipped, recited, reckoned, related, remarked, repeated, replied, responded, shared, slurred, stated, suggested, told, urged, uttered, vocalized, voiced

━━━  ❛ 𝘌𝘟𝘊𝘐𝘛𝘌𝘋 ❜ ｡ ｡ ｡
Babbled, beamed, bubbled, chattered, cheered, chimed in, chortled, chuckled, congratulated, complimented, crooned, effused, exclaimed, giggled, grinned, gushed, jabbered, joked, laughed, praised, rejoiced, sang, smiled, thanked, tittered, trilled, yammered

━━━  ❛ 𝘜𝘗𝘚𝘌𝘛 ❜ ｡ ｡ ｡
Agonized, apologized, bawled, blubbered, cried, fretted, grieved, groaned, lamented, mewled, moaned, mumbled, sobbed, sighed, sniffled, sniveled, wailed, wept

━━━  ❛ 𝘈𝘕𝘎𝘙𝘠 ❜ ｡ ｡ ｡
Accused, badgered, barked, bellowed, choked, chastised, cursed, demanded, exploded, fumed, glowered, growled, hissed, insulted, raged, ranted, reprimanded, roared, scolded, screamed, screeched, snarled, spat, shouted, swore, thundered, vociferated, yelled

━━━  ❛ 𝘈𝘕𝘕𝘖𝘠𝘌𝘋 ❜ ｡ ｡ ｡
Bleated, complained, condemned, criticized, exhaled, groused, grumbled, grunted, heaved, insisted, mocked, rasped, rejoined, retorted, scoffed, smirked, snapped, whined

━━━  ❛ 𝘍𝘙𝘐𝘎𝘏𝘛𝘌𝘕𝘌𝘋/𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘕𝘌𝘋 ❜ ｡ ｡ ｡
Coughed, cautioned, gulped, howled, keened, panted, prayed, quavered, screamed, shrieked, shuddered, squalled, squealed, trembled, wailed, warbled, whimpered, yelped, yowled, warned

━━━  ❛ 𝘔𝘈𝘒𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘍𝘜𝘕 ❜ ｡ ｡ ｡
Derided, jeered, heckled, lampooned, mockeed, mimicked, parodied, ridiculed, satirized, scorned, spoofed, sneered, snickered, taunted, teased

━━━  ❛ 𝘘𝘜𝘌𝘚𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕𝘐𝘕𝘎 ❜ ｡ ｡ ｡
Asked, begged, challenged, contemplated, guessed, hinted, hypothesized, implied, inquired, interrogated, invited, mouthed, mused, pleaded, pondered, probed, proposed, puzzled, repeated, requested, requisitioned, queried, questioned, quizzed, solicited, speculated, wondered