Italics -it's a nutjob!
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Each publisher has specific house styles, but there are some universal, standard usage of italics:
1. internal thoughts: I can't do that, Martha thought.
2. emphasis: Please, that is totally unnecessary. [However, many editors do not like emphasis -- they think that it distracts the readers by forcing them to focus on one or two words, instead of letting the readers get it on their own]
3. titles: The Da Vinci Code and Ooops I Did I Again and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
4. words, although you can also put them in quotes (just be consistent): I saw the word panic on the bus and I start to panic. I saw "panic" written all over the walls.
5. excerpts (speech, letter, poetry, quotes, etc.): Today I wrote the following statement to my representative:
1. internal thoughts: I can't do that, Martha thought.
2. emphasis: Please, that is totally unnecessary. [However, many editors do not like emphasis -- they think that it distracts the readers by forcing them to focus on one or two words, instead of letting the readers get it on their own]
3. titles: The Da Vinci Code and Ooops I Did I Again and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
4. words, although you can also put them in quotes (just be consistent): I saw the word panic on the bus and I start to panic. I saw "panic" written all over the walls.
5. excerpts (speech, letter, poetry, quotes, etc.): Today I wrote the following statement to my representative:
We should not allow pigs to enter the hot dog eating contest.
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Nope, no italics here. The editor will change that to read:
I can't do that, Martha thought.
The only time inner dialog is italicized is when there is no "he/she thought" after the sentence. This would be correct:
Martha looked at the people around her slather peanut butter all over their bodies. I can't do that.
One more thing, mostly about foreign words. I use a bunch of them (though less, since I've learned better), and if I italicized them all, it would read funny because we tend to stress italicized words when reading. So, while technically I should put them all in italics, from a readability standpoint it doesn't work so well. Probably the best example is the honorific on a Japanese name--no, it's not in the English dictionary, but putting it in italics tends to give it an emphasis it shouldn't have.
I guess my point is there is a set of rules, and you make the best decision for your work based on those rules.
I guess my point is there is a set of rules, and you make the best decision for your work based on those rules.
Tilda - When in doubt, I generally refer to my copy of "The Chicago Manual of Style". It has a long list of italics usage references.
Some of the advice posted in this thread contradicts the suggestions in "The Chicago Manual of Style".
I'm usually guided by the widely accepted reference sources, rather than obtaining writing advice from strangers.
No offense intended.
Some of the advice posted in this thread contradicts the suggestions in "The Chicago Manual of Style".
I'm usually guided by the widely accepted reference sources, rather than obtaining writing advice from strangers.
No offense intended.
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Codger said:
No offense taken. So go out there and read the CMS and come back here and tell me I was wrong.
I don't think I'll run away just yet
Sorry to disappoint you, Julie, but I'll be sticking around for a while.
I guess that I'm "old school" when it comes to grammar, spelling and punctuation. I don't think that they are candidates for majority-rule, or consensus. I refer to the classics whenever I'm stuck.
A lot of sincere writing advice I've received over the years turned out to be sincerely wrong.
Most of my writing is about technical and management nonfiction, so that may explain my attitude.
Sorry to disappoint you, Julie, but I'll be sticking around for a while.
I guess that I'm "old school" when it comes to grammar, spelling and punctuation. I don't think that they are candidates for majority-rule, or consensus. I refer to the classics whenever I'm stuck.
A lot of sincere writing advice I've received over the years turned out to be sincerely wrong.
Most of my writing is about technical and management nonfiction, so that may explain my attitude.
Julie Worth said:
A dream sequence would also be another candidate for trimming from your manuscript. Not always, and not categorically, but many dream sequences in manuscripts I've read are among the worst written, least necessary and gimmicky things in them. If you have one, take a good hard dispassionate look at it and what you're trying to accomplish with it.
caw.
blacbird said:
In your opinion! Mine, however, are the best. You hear me, the best! They transition, they foreshadow, they reveal character. It's a mistake to toss out anything just because some do it badly. You might as well toss dialogue, or description, or authorial intrusion (which has its place, esp. in comedy).
You'll note, Julie, I said "Not always, and not categorically." The worst offense I've seen (repeatedly) with dream sequences is where writers use them to convey realistic story info.
caw.
caw.
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