You might have to give up on a few words and re-arrange things. For example: > "It's a pleasure to be here," Electron replied with a smile. You also can omit "X said" a lot of times. A new paragraph indicates a change in speaker, and when there are only two it can be clear. Once every three or four quotes you can clarify who is talking. > "I'll come visit you every now and again, if I'm not too busy," said Electron. > > Colin smiled. "I'm sure the other patients will appreciate that as well. You been to the children's ward yet?" > > "Not yet, I think I'll leave that for last. The kids won't want me to go, you know?" > > "You're a good man, Electron," Colin replied, nodding. "I think we're gonna get along just fine. It's a pleasure to have you in my city." > > "It's a pleasure to be here!" Consider looking up synonyms for "said" and also sometimes replacing "said", like: > "I'm sure the other patients will appreciate that as well," Colin smiled. In the last case, "smiled" takes the place of "said" and implies Colin was talking and smiling.