You may feel the need to replace the word “said” with something jazzier, like “growled,” “chuckled,” “hissed,” and so on. Sometimes descriptive dialogue tags are useful and effective. Often, they are not.
Let’s look at an example.
Rick kicked the closet door.
“The gold isn’t here,” Rick exclaimed.
“That weirdo took it,” John hissed.
“Don’t call her that,” Rick growled.
Pointing a knife at Rick’s chest, John threatened, “You don’t like it? Try and stop me.”
Do you notice how the writing calls attention to itself?
Here’s another way to do it.
Rick kicked the closet door. “The gold isn’t here,” he said.
John clenched his jaw. “That weirdo took it.”
“Don’t call her that.”
John pushed the tip of his knife against Rick’s chest. “You don’t like it? Try and stop me,” John said.
Don’t rely on dialogue tags to do the work for you. Reveal the tone of your dialogue through the actions of your characters, which gives movement and life to the narrative. Using “said” isn’t overtly redundant. “Said” is a simple, invisible word. Readers hardly notice it.
Love the focus on revealing the tone through the actions. It also really helps the flow of the scene.