Words to use instead of "said"?

Here's a few. Don't forget you can always liven up 'said' with with an adverb (he ejaculated insincerely).

'Said' disappears after a while, the reader doesn't notice it. It's bad writing practice, so it's said, to replace 'said' with..er...ejaculated (at least too often). Just say 'said'(and also forget the adjectives) 'She moaned feelingly' http://www.ukauthors.com

Just do away with it altogether and allow the conversation to flow naturally. Liberate yourself from using it

said,says,told. they do the job. i love reading Alan Bennett scripts. & he often opted for the more basic words because those are the ones that suited his characters. i know you're talking novel, not play, but even then, an off-beat word can throw me, where as "said" etc i skim over. whispered, yelled, ordered, barked... i'm sure the alternatives all work fine but they'd suggest themselves naturally i imagine. & if they don't, then said's the way to go.

New Good subject and words. Bit I have put said and says because if someone spoken one put'sname,then talk again so I said said or says. But cannot express and do like all of you can. Get my meaning! Thanks. cavalcaderl julie x

"Hello," he lied. I used to work for a publishing house that wrote about boring things and interviewed boring people. Not sure how the business survived really. But we tried to liven the magazine up by having interviewees "opine", "bellow", "declare", "state", "ponder", "muse" and all sorts. Mostly they looked silly and "said" would have done much better but they kept us amused. Some writers use "said" so sparingly that I sometimes struggle to work out who is talking. Cormac McCarthy springs to mind. And half the dialogue's in Spanish which doesn't help. Anyway, I digress. Interesting topic.

Angus felched desperately for the right words

It's currently taught to avoid adverbs as much as possible. As has already been stated, 'said' pretty much disappears. What MA students like myself are taught is to use 'said' rather than verbs such as'ejaculated' etc (which can sound ridiculous) but wherever possible to dispense with a tag. Good dialogue should be self-explanatory and readers able to differentiate between speakers. Mood should also be created by what's shown rather than by what's being told.