I don't actually talk about writing that much, but you probably need to read this.

When I was in fourth grade my teacher had this activity she made us do called "said is dead" where we had to come up with alternative endings to the word 'said' for our dialogue, because said was used to often.

Instead we were supposed to use words like 'sighed' 'shouted' 'growled' 'exaggerated' or other dialogue words to improve our writing quality.

Said is not dead. Here read this:

"Hi," Amy sighed happily. Luke waved back shyly.

Or

"Hi," Amy responded. Luke waved back shyly.

Or

"Hi," Amy muttered. Luke waved back shyly.

Or

"Hi," Amy said. Luke waved back shyly.

Notice how your brain kind of skims over the word said but pauses on the others. The other dialogue tags make the reading awkward. Plus they show emotions we don't actually want Amy to have. 'Sighed happily' makes it sound like Amy is really really happy to see Luke. They aren't dating. Amy doesn't swing that way.

We don't need to imply emotions Amy doesn't have. If you aren't trying to convey anything other than the fact that words came out of the characters mouth, then you use the word 'said' that's what it's for.

Now here's a different dialogue.

"Hi" Amy said.

"Hi," Luke said.

"So how is everything?" Amy asked.

"Everything's going good," Luke said, "Hey could we maybe go out some time? For like pizza or something?"

"I'm sorry," Amy said, "I can't i have a girlfriend."

"Oh . . . ? OH- um- sorry," Luke said. "I didn't realize you were . . ."

"Gay," said Amy.

Or

"Hi" Amy said.

"Hi," Luke said.

"So how is everything?"

"Everything's going good. Hey could we maybe go out some time? For like pizza or something?"

"I'm sorry. I can't, i have a girlfriend."

"Oh . . . ?" Luke's eyes widened with realization, "OH- um- sorry, I- uh didn't realize you were . . ."

"Gay," Amy finished for him.

"Yeah, that," Luke's cheeks turned red as he mumbled half of an apology and scurried away.

You don't always need any kind of dialogue tags. When it's clear who's speaking you can kill said. In fact please do. Just leave the thing out don't add words you don't need.

This doesn't just apply to stories either. I have a group project for English. The other people in my group keep wanting to use as many big complicated words as they can. The word "saying" is too simple for AP English 3!" So now we have to use "exchanging whispers of gossip"

Which sounds better:

" . . . saying that Hester "ought to die"."

Or

" . . . exchanging gossip a about how Hester "ought to die"."

Seriously if three people tell me the second one is better I will shut up about it and believe you but in my current opinion you should get to the point. If a word is not giving more information it should be excluded from your writing (unless your teacher has given you a minimum on the number of words you may use. Then you add as many as you need.)

Anyway yeah use said to your hearts content it's a word made for you to use.