dixit

Once again, it's time to visit grade school English class and fix all the lies that you learned as a child.

Here is your teacher:

"Don't say 'said'."  

I was even provided with a list of other, much more exciting and descriptive words to use instead of the dreaded "said".  And perhaps while you're still learning to write and you're constructing paragraphs like a McDonald's employee, this is valuable advice because it forces you to actually think about what you're writing and to branch out into the realm of new words other than your limited colloquial vocabulary.

But, as any English-speaker knows, rules are made to be broken.

The problem with avoiding the word "said" just because you were told to do so once many years ago is that "said" is actually a very nice word.  

Here, let's do an experiment:  say your name.

"your name".

Very nice.  Now, tell me how you just did that.  Did you proclaim it?  Did you shout? Did you whisper? Did you command?

If you want, you can do further experimentation and say your name under those conditions.  Scream it.  Ask it.  Declare it.

Do you feel silly?

Now just say it again.  You still might feel a little silly, sitting in front of the computer, repeating your name aloud over and over...but certainly just saying your name is much less ridiculous than anything else.

See, given the situation, "said" is the best word.

"Said" is a nice little tool to use because it doesn't distract from what is sometimes more important.  Half the battle of creating anything that speaks to our insides (emotions, intelligence, soul, whatever it is you have in there...) is creating something that will resonate there, and the other half is to not distract from that resonance.

In music, this means staying in tune.

In art, this means coloring inside the lines.  (unless you're going for something more abstract...)

In dance, this means keeping your movements strong and fluid.

And in writing, it means letting those words (that you've chosen so carefully to carry the power that they have) stand alone.  Don't try to augment them with other words...let the best words and phrases steal the show, and don't be afraid to have words like 'said' in the chorus, where they can't upstage the important stuff.

That being said, just don't be lazy and put "said" for everything.  Use "said" just as carefully as you use everything else.