My "Two Said" Rule
My rule is simple. If a story begins with the word “said” twice in the first sentence, you must be very cautious with the rest of the story.
Example:
“Mike said that Tony said that…..”
When a conversation starts that way, always remember that it means you are going to be four people removed from the source. As many times I’ve allowed myself to brush off this rule, it continually comes back to prove it’s worth. Feel free to adopt it.