270+ Other Words For "Said" To Supercharge Your Writing

There is no magical number of words that constitutes "too much" dialogue—it's a matter of whether it's serving its purpose for the story or not. Dialogue works best when it's exposing character, moving plot along, or increasing tension. When the dialogue begins to go around in circles and not reveal anything new, or characters are saying what can be shown by action or description, the balance is tipped.

Too much dialogue slows a scene, yet too little renders characters flat or distant. Balance is the key: a blend of dialogue with narrative beats, interior reflection, and sensory detail keeps natural rhythm and flow. Readers should never feel as if they're listening in on filler. When every dialogue earns its place on the page, there's no such thing as "too much."

I think there are two: overtagging/interruptions, and on-the-nose dialogue.

Overtagging is less about the dialogue itself and more about what's going on around the dialogue. This includes tagging every line with a verbal tag (said, shouted, whispered, asked, etc.) or action/detail, and interrupting dialogue scenes with longer passages of perspective work, action, setting descriptions, and so forth. This can disrupt the pacing and make the dialogue feel choppy, even to the point that the reader can lose track of the conversation. Allow the dialogue to do the work - don't tag every line with a said, don't keep interrupting your characters' conversations. Trust in the reader's ability to follow along, and your own to write good dialogue that drives the plot forward.

On-the-nose dialogue is harder to address as an editor, because it's about how characters speak to each other, but I do come across many writers who will write in therapy-speak or have characters who say exactly what they are thinking or feeling in that moment, without filters. This flattens out the dialogue and makes the characters sound the same, as well as just being unrealistic. I think it's always worth considering how people speak to each other and how this is often dependent on personalities, personal relationships (we won't tell strangers the same things we tell our friends, for instance), and the goals of the conversation itself (speaking to a boss about a project is very different than speaking to a friend about dinner plans). People will use different modes of speech - formal, informal, slang, dialect, etc. - depending on the circumstances. I think the best thing to remember is that characters are people, with pasts and futures, fears and desires, conflicts, differences, similarities, emotional barriers, psychological problems. Let them speak for themselves, and like themselves.

I think the biggest issue I see in dialogue is having everyone speak in the same voice/style. Having every person, or even just more than one person, speak similarly makes it feel as if the author's own voice is simply being translated into multiple people, and this is most obvious when it comes to slang or catch-phrases. For instance, there's nothing wrong with the slang/informal word 'anyways' or with a sentence in dialogue starting out with the word 'anyway', but when multiple characters are using that word regularly, or even just using it close together, it all of a sudden starts to feel like everyone is speaking with the same voice.

Now, you might argue that people who live together and know each other well may likely use some of the same phrases, and that's true. I've certainly inherited some phrases/slang from my husband after more than twenty years together! But in fiction, those similarities often come across as making it feel as if a voice is being replicated, so when a character uses any distinct phrase/aphorism/uncommon slang term, it's a good idea to make sure they're the only character in your book using that phrase/term, no matter how rarely or often they use it. The 'search' function in Word is priceless when it comes to safeguarding against issues like this.

Similarly, if you know you have a tendency in dialogue to have a character change the subject or start/end casual sentences with a phrase like 'you know' or 'anyway', try to keep that phrase/word to just that character. Again, the 'search' function is your friend when it comes to issues like this!

Note that this same issue is something you want to safeguard against if you're writing dual or multi-POV works where you're using close third or first person for multiple voices, as the same issue can make it feel like everyone is speaking/thinking with the same voice even outside of dialogue.

Two dialogue pitfalls I usually highlight for revision are:

1. Using overly formal language for everyday people in contemporary settings. Most people speak using contractions (can't, won't, you'd, it'll, etc.) – even very posh ones! And I don't think it sounds right when their speech is too stiff and proper. Of course some characters may speak like this - but then you want that to be a noticeable thing about their character!
2. I always urge writers to reconsider trying to emulate accents in dialogue, and rather describe how a character speaks and mention they have a particular accent if they do (whether that be a national accent or a social-class accent). Trying to phonetically portray an accent is very difficult to do accurately and I think it can make a character seem like a caricature, which is best avoided. (It also runs the risk of offending your readers, which you also don't want to do!)

Perhaps the most frequent trap is dialogue that reads as though people aren't speaking at all—too formal and stiff, or so riddled with affected slang.

Another is when two characters spell out things they both already know for the reader's sake, which reads unreal. Dialogue tags are distracting when they're too numerous or too flowery; typically "said" is everywhere and works best.

Finally, dialogue without subtext—characters expressing themselves exactly as they feel—can flatten a scene. To avoid these traps, read your dialogue out loud for unnatural phrasing, incorporate exposition into action or narration instead of speeches, and leave half the conversation to silence, body language, or what isn't said. Deliberate, natural dialogue moves the story forward without pointing out the machinery.

I'm a huge proponent of staying hydrated, so I will always recommend water. It's a great tool to give your brain space to think, too. Stuck? Take a sip of water. Finished a difficult line? Take a sip of water. Feeling achy after sitting too long? Take a sip of water.

A pocket notebook and pen or pencil. You never know when an idea will come around, or you suddenly figure out a solution to a writing problem. I keep one on me all the time, even if I'm sitting at my computer, because sometimes in the time it takes to decide what app/document to open, the thought will just vanish. It also gives me a chance to think visually, which is how I often work through things: mind-maps, doodles, sketches, and other ways of expressing myself that are not always easy to pull off with a keyboard.

And they're handy for impromptu to-do or shopping lists to boot!

Your smartphone! The quickest way to make sure you don't forget an idea is to record a voice note – save yourself the scramble for a pen and paper. Snapshots of places, scenes, details, and skies that inspire you are great for reference too.

A notepad or a phone as a way of taking verbal or written notes for ideas as they arise.

I'm a sucker for a good pocket notebook. You never know when inspiration will strike, and while phone are great (and another note-taking device that works wonders) I've always found that physically writing something down helps the ideas flow more.

Pen and paper if you're old-school.

Laptop (or in a pinch, smartphone) if you're new-school.

Coffee if you drink coffee; tea if you drink tea.

And when the words just aren't coming, access to whiskey and rum. 😉

Write it anyway!

The market for books is huge and each writer's voice is unique. You will have a different way of presenting the informaiton or telling the story, even if it's similar to someone else's.

Your book will still be yours and stand out from the crowd. Think about it this way:

You know that book/movie about a group of strangers who end up at a haunted house and have to survive the night/day in order to get the prize or meet the challenge put in front of them?

How about the one about the big-city-living thirty-something woman who's forced to go home to her small town, just for a quick visit to deal with family drama, and ends up falling in love with a local?

Or the book/movie about the serial killer preying on unsuspecting innocents in a small town, so that FBI agents have to come to town and overcome local prejudices to catch the killer?

Well, no...you probably know the dozens of books and movies described in those quick little concepts.

The point is, concepts and ideas are generic. Once you write your book, you'll make it your own. If you can tweak the concept/idea so that it's never quite been done before, then you'll have a high-concept idea that might stand out even a bit more than it would otherwise, but no matter what, you'll have a book that will be different from all those others because you're the one who wrote it. And readers who want that genre or live for that idea (like I live for haunted house stories, admittedly) will devour it, no matter how similar it may be to other books at a basic level of concept.

Write a better book. There are many books written about the same topic, same ideas, same plots. You can't protect an idea, only the written expression of that idea. Go write your own book that is thoughtful, well-written, and thorough. A good book will find an audience.