Writing Lite Tip 30: “Said” is about the only dialogue tag you’ll ever need

 

Writing Lite Tip 30: "Said" is about the only dialogue tag you'll ever need.
OK. I’m lying. You can also use “asked.”

But anything else calls attention to itself and indicates you don’t have enough confidence in the dialogue without adding a declaration of how someone spoke.

If your dialogue is clear and strong, you will rarely need anything beyond “said” or “asked.”