Up until now, I've always tried to follow the advice that says - just use said, it's an invisible phrase & wont get in the way of the reading.

But, I've had a few instances in my latest WIP, where "she said" just doesn't seem to cut it.

For example, my MC's wife is witnessing her husband being dragged away by armed soldiers. She's cut off from him & cant run to his side.

So I have:
"Stop it! let him go," she said.
Which just doesn't seem strong enough.

But if I write:
"Stop it! let him go," she screamed.
It just seems to portray her actions better in this case.

Is it going to be viewed as bad writing, if I ignore the rules and just go with option 2?
Will I look like an amateur (which I am, but obviously I want to try my hardest to break out of that mould).

“Blah blah blah..., “ says Mike.
“Yadda yadda yadda...,” says Karen.
“Blah blah blah...,” says Mike.
“Yadda yadda yadda....,” says Karen.
“Blah blah blah...,” says Mike.

Eventually, all I see is two static people just talking to each other with no other action taking place. The only way this type of dialog works for me is if the author does a bang up job detailing the scene in which the conversation is taking place. If not, I would much rather read:

“Blah blah blah..., “ says Mike.
“Yadda yadda yadda...,” says Karen.
“Blah blah blah...,” says Mike smiling.
“Yadda yadda yadda....,” whispers Karen seductively.
“Blah blah blah...,” says Mike.

That spices things up a bit, and I like that. I realize that others may not like that. Still, others may contend that no one pays attention to the wording. However, because I read each and every word in detail, my weird self is paying attention so that shoots that argument out of the water.

When writing, I don’t follow the hard rule of using said at the end of a sentence of dialog. Because I use a good bit of dialog to move the story along and, even though I use the verb said, every now and then, I’ll pop in another verb just to break the monotony and give the dialog a little pop.

Peace,
Scott

It is also good to remember that too many dialog tags, especially when only two people are in a discussion, only get in the way of the flow for the reader. Dialog tags are not invisible if used too much, even the infamous 'said'. Use dialog tags only for emphasis or pacing, or when you really need to stress something. That way, they have more impact.

[This message has been edited by luapc (edited January 24, 2006).]

Plus, you can use indirect attribution, or skip tags altogether to avoid the repetitive pattern z. mentions above.

"Lock the door behind me." Clarissa hefted her machine gun and opened the door. "The monkeys are out there."

"I know," said Derek. "You don't have to nag."

"I'm not nagging. Why don't you ever listen to me?" Clarissa started to cry.

"Because you never say anything worth listening to."

"Pig!" She slammed the door.

In ordinary conversation, where we can assume that two people are speaking normally and each can hear the other, you use "said" because that's what the characters are doing.

But the line you have here, it could be delivered, plausibly, in dozens of different ways. She might scream it at a particular person (presumably the officer in charge, though not necessarily), she could yell it at the whole group, she could deliver it coldly as a demand, she could gasp it while holding her abdomen, whisper it into the dirt, plead...I'm going to resist the temptation to actually enumerate dozens of tags that would give the reader distinct and useful information about what she's actually doing in this scene.

The rule about avoiding "said bookisms" is intended to ensure that you use "said" when that's what you mean. Just as you use the character's name when you refer to the character rather than making up a new identification tag every line.