Writers check it out! Some words you can use to tighten up that dialogue instead of the dreaded said:
Note: I want to edit this post to include something a blogger reminded me of in the comments because I think its important. It was something I woke up with on my mind and it occurred to me that I forgot to mention it in this post. So I hope you all don’t mind me adding it here:
Using said is still (and always will be) good just not too much as to make the dialogue sound monotone. Boring basically. However, you don’t want to go overboard with words that do nothing but show that you have an advanced vocabulary. All of these words must be used, obviously, with wisdom.
The PBS Blog 