Dialogue tags: we can’t really have a story without them… but are we using them well? I don’t mean our grammar or punctuation (though this post has some great pointers for that), but rather how we integrate tags in a way that’s smooth, skilful, and doesn’t disrupt the reader. This is, like most things (read: anything) to do with writing, an area in which, surprise surprise, lots of people have opinions. And, of course, it raises a lot of questions.  I’ll start with the usual disclaimer: as with a great many other aspects of writing, there’s not strictly a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to do most things. (Except using apostrophes…