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An important thing is to not overcorrect in the other direction with "said bookisms" lists of verbs that can be used instead of "said", like "exclaimed", "emoted", "sighed", "rumbled", "hissed...
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#4: Attribution notice removed
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42703 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42703 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
An important thing is to not overcorrect in the other direction with "[said bookisms](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SaidBookism)" > lists of verbs that can be used instead of "said", like "exclaimed", "emoted", "sighed", "rumbled", "hissed", "pontificated", "enquired", etc. Often "said" and pronouns/character names become almost invisible, like punctuation. You still want to improve your writing always for flow and pacing, but readers still NEED signposts, whether it's a comma, a pronoun, or a proper name, so just be careful not to overcorrect in the other direction.