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"Said" is timeless. It never died like your teachers told you, and you should be the one to take it to new heights. It is much better than this:
"Look at Nowhere Man go!" exploded Ringo.
"Yeah," Paul chimed in, "and look at the flower," he added promptly. He concluded, "It's off to the moon, fellas!"
"Wow! Let's play some music as he does whatever this is!" Ringo boomed then.
Write this:
"Look at Nowhere Man go!" Ringo shouted.
"Yeah," Paul said, "and look at the flower... It's off to the moon, fellas!"
"Wow! Let's play some music as he does whatever this is!"
🌀
Why though? WHY is "said" usually the best choice if you need a dialogue tag? Because "said" is like a kuroko.
What's a kuroko? Well, it's these guys:
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Not the silly one in stripes. The ones in black! A kuroko is a stagehand in traditional Japanese theater who helps with props, scene changes, and other stage functions as quietly as possible. Indeed, if a kuroko is doing his job right, he won't distract the audience.
Using a lot of outlandish words like "gab" and "state" is DISTRACTING. Using "said" is as normal, and as invisible, as it gets. And just like in stage drama, you don't want the world staring at your helpers. Dialogue tags are there to HELP the dialogue, to help clear confusion and to clarify, not to be a part of the action.
Most dialogue won't need a dialogue tag at all. Let the dialogue stand on its own, like in the underlined sentence a few paragraphs ago. This is the best option because, in its absence, it's the least intrusive dialogue tag of all! Use the extra space to add valuable context to the scene:
"Wow! Let's play some music as he does whatever this is!" Ringo whipped out his bugle and began to dance around.
That being said, sometimes you DO need a different word, such as "shout" to demonstrate a raised voice. This also isn't to say you shouldn't sprinkle in some exciting words. It just means that you should use them specially, not all the time.
Hit it, boys.
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