Italics for book quotes

Keithy

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OK, I am already using italics for POV thoughts on the basis that

"think think think," thought character

might be confused with dialogue. And I've got used to using italics.

But...

What about if they're reading a book, and it's necessary to quote from it (without having the character speak it aloud)?

What I have been using for that is single quotes - I use double quotes for normal spoken dialogue.

But...

It's occurred to me that "thinking" italics might be appropriate, because in a sense the character is "thinking" the words he/she is reading.
 

cornflake

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I'd ask why it's necessary to quote from a book within a book instead of just summarizing or getting something from it, I think.

You're talking about quotes you've invented, right. you're not quoting other people's work in yours?
 

blacbird

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There exist standard conventions for direct quotations from literature. Purdue OWL (google being your friend) will provide those conventional formats. They are intended for formal academic work, not fiction, but they are good guidelines.

Secondly, you need to make sure what you're quoting (if it is a real quote from a real source) is not under copyright. If you've made it up, it won't matter.

caw
 

lizmonster

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It's occurred to me that "thinking" italics might be appropriate, because in a sense the character is "thinking" the words he/she is reading.

When the character is speaking, I use quotes and italics. When the character is thinking, I use italics and indent the text.
 

Cindyt

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I use italics when the POV is thinking, or verbally quoting another character (vs using the single quotation mark), and to accent words and phrases. I have a bit of public domain stuff that I center-space between empty lines.
 

lizmonster

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??? Quotes AND italics for dialogue? I don't think that format will pass muster with any editor.

caw

When the character is quoting something, what they're quoting is in italics (their dialog is not).

e.g. "Veni, vidi, vici, ​ya know?" said Fred.
 
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Jan74

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I started to do that, use italics, but then came across a really good blog showing dialogue and not to use italics for thinking, if you word the paragraph right the reader will know that its the characters thoughts, and then italics aren't necessary. So I have abandoned them.

This blog has been very helpful for me.
http://inkandquills.com/2015/07/01/how-to-write-your-characters-thoughts/
 
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blacbird

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When the character is quoting something, what they're quoting is in italics (their dialog is not).

e.g. "Veni, vidi, vici, ​ya know?" said Fred.

The only reason you would italicize in that example is that the phrase is in another language (in this case, Latin). If you were quoting a famous passage from another writer (e.g., Shakespeare) in English, you would do it thus:

"'Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,' ya know?" said Fred.

That would be the standard U.S. punctuation convention. In the U.K., the use of single and double quotation marks (inverted commas, by U.K. terminology) is exactly the opposite of that. But, in any case, it would not be italicized.

caw
 

lizmonster

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That would be the standard U.S. punctuation convention. In the U.K., the use of single and double quotation marks (inverted commas, by U.K. terminology) is exactly the opposite of that. But, in any case, it would not be italicized.

Hm, you're right. That's standard usage. My copy editor didn't flag what I'd done, although I suppose the passage in question isn't entirely standard.
 

Keithy

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OK, the quotes within my book are from made up "future history" books, ie those that would be written in about 1500 years time. So copyright is not an issue.

I will keep the italics for thinking. I got tired of typing in "xxx," he thought.

I'm thinking (!) of doing away with the italics for in-book quotes, and will try the indenting thing instead.
 

skyhawk0

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Blockquotes ("the indenting thing") are standard when you're quoting more than just a bit of a work (real or fictional, either works). If you're quoting just a line, quotation marks would be more common. But, hey, if you want to convey the sense of your character being lost in the book, you can easily standardize all such quotes as blockquotes. Just know that, if you do, it'll look weird if you have him read just a couple of words before being interrupted.

Italics for thinking are fairly common. It's pretty much the standard.