what's the problem with speech tags

vaysh11 has posted an interesting discussion about speech tags over on her journal.

It's always a topic I find interesting. And I'll admit that when reading the use of speech tags and the punctuating of dialogue is something that I notice immediately. And at times it can make or break a story for me.

Okay, speech tags can never really 'make' a story good. They should be ~invisible to the reader, really. It's when they make me notice them (or lack of them) that there's a problem.

ANYWAY. Interesting post and plenty to discuss because, like adverbs, there's lots of room for discussion about the proper handling of these things. Go check it out.

'Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.
The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in.'
~ Elmore Leonard

"Do you agree?" Maggie whispered into the abyss.

[ETA: in case I wasn't clear, the merits of that quote are what are discussed in detail (with examples) in Vaysh's post]