Many writers love the word said. They use it for every dialogue tag they can. But writers can overuse it.
Said gives the reader nothing about the story. But there are other words that expand upon it, letting the reader know more about the characters and plot. These other dialogue tags include:
- Announced
- Boasted
- Commented
- Declared
- Exclaimed
- Explained
- Remarked
- Replied
- Shouted
- Stated
- Teased
- Whispered
- Yelled
There’s much more power in “I hid the body,” he whispered or “I hid the body,” he boasted than “I hid the body,” he said.
Writers can overuse these power words though. Make sure to not use the same dialogue tags over and over. Also, still use said every once in a while. Just not every time.
There’s always a battle between using said too much or not enough at all. It all comes down to personal preference. If you feel said is too much, it’s time for a switch-a-roo with dialogue tags.
Robin LeeAnn 
I use said mostly. Readers are almost blind to it, and although I find there are occasionally times that I need more than ‘said’ I always question myself. Like adverbs, using anything but ‘said’ can sound clumsy.
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I can see what you mean about it sounding clumsy. Most readers, who just read and don’t write on the side, don’t notice “said” as much. But “said” is like a word they skip over and don’t read at all. I’d rather put a word that has an impact sometimes rather than always writing a word they skip. But yeah, if you use other dialogue tags too much (especially unfamiliar ones), it can sound super clumsy.
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