Ways to avoid repeating said

I checked my historical fiction novel, and it was 550, 'said' for 90000 words. My mystery novel with multiple changes in POV from the antag to the protag is 172 for 60000 words. I used a lot of beats, but I never shied away from 'said.'

 

Maybe try to envision what the characters are doing AS they speak. What they look like? (Facial expressions, body language.) What are they looking at? Are they moving around? Twitching a bit? Are they working on some other task as they speak? Are they distracted by something else going on around them? Do they seem relaxed, impatient, embarrassed, preoccupied? What is your POV character thinking or feeling as the other people speak? What can you do to get these other elements into the dialogue scene?

It's a mistake to assume it can 'all be done with dialogue.' We often say things we don't mean, or hold back on something we should say or want to say. Or remain silent even though we disagree with something. Or we may pretend to agree, when we don't. Our tone of voice or body language can change the meaning of the words we do say. It's obvious that, as an author, you're restricting yourself if you only employ talking head speeches to convey information. Maybe see what you can do to bring the entire scene to life. Give the characters' speech some context. It's a lot of fun, once you get this going. Fun for you to write, and fun for the reader to experience.

There is also the fact that dialogue alone moves VERY fast. Sometimes too fast for the meaning to have any impact. Speed does not equal quality. Try to give the dialogue a bit of space to breathe, to sink in, to leave an impression.

 

^ Excellent explanation of subtext. Normally people don't speak 'on the nose', saying exactly what they mean. Dialogue written on the nose comes across like 2 robots with no psychological depth exchanging data. In fact, good actors will read a script and try to figure out the subtext they're going to work into it when they play the scenes. A script that doesn't allow for this is a flat, dead script. And actors who don't do it are flat actors.

 

What an IDIOT!

 

In most cases, the words themselves should convey how the words were said. You can't always do that but it does help cut them down a lot. You can always add actions too as long as you don't overdo it

'I'm not happy with you,' she said angrily
'I'm not happy with you,' she said, bringing her palm down hard on the table

The problem I always find is making sure the reader reads the sentence as intended and they can't always do that with this structure. You can reverse it of course:

In anger, she said 'I'm not happy with you.'
Bringing her hand down hard on the table, she said 'I'm not happy with you.'

The trouble with using lots of different words is the reader starts picking up on what you're doing. The word 'said', 'he', 'she' become invisible eventually and whilst you as the writer might think they're intrusive, a lot of readers only register them as pointers/indicators and don't register them literally. I can't get my head around that entirely myself though and still try to avoid them as much as possible.

 

Less is more. When it's obvious who's doing the speaking, use it rarely, if at all. Indicate who is about to speak with an action.

"I hate this shirt," Ellen said.
"It looks good on you, though," Bill said.
"Thanks," she said, smiling at him and blushing.

vs.

Ellen rumpled her shoulders trying to get the lay of the fabric to sit less awkwardly over her breasts. "I hate this shirt. Makes my boobs look weird."
Bill chuckled, grinning at her antics. "Well, I think it looks good on you."
Ellen blushed and smiled back. "Thanks."

When you've got more than two speaking it gets trickier. Try to limit large crowd conversations. But when you have to, use the above technique and add in different words than "said."

"The guards left the gate open," the first soldier said.
"Could be a trap," another said.
"Shut up and get about your business," Sergeant Dix said angrily.

vs.

The men crouched low in the shadows across the street. "The guards left the gate open," the soldier in front observed.
"Could be a trap," the man behind him added. "Seems odd no one's on the wall."
The sergeant glared at them. "Shut up and get about your business."

I think this is one of my favorite challenges. But don't sweat it first time through. Just get the words down and who's saying them, then clean it up later. Don't get bogged down with this or you'll lose the drive to finish it.