Italicizing part of a word

Asterism · Jul 6, 2017

I have a couple instances in my WIP where italicizing part of a word would help deliver the message I'm hoping to make. I am interested if others do this (and whether grammar permits), or whether it is something that might jolt the reader away. Here are the instances provided as examples:

1. They'd won. She'd won.
2. Someone or something was at the corner...

Thanks for your thoughts and any grammatical pedantry.

Night_Writer · Jul 6, 2017

I don't see the point in leaving just the d in the first example as non-italics. The way a person would pronounce it, the whole word would be stressed, including the d, because it's just one syllable.

The second example, with thing in italics, makes more sense, and seems completely acceptable, at least to me.

I have an example in my own writing:

Oh Betty, I'm so disappointed.

Jeff Bond · Jul 6, 2017

I will do that occasionally in circumstances like that. I think you're fine as long as it's not done repeatedly, or within a general pattern of over-italicization.

LJD · Jul 6, 2017

Night_Writer said:
I don't see the point in leaving just the d in the first example as non-italics. The way a person would pronounce it, the whole word would be stressed, including the d, because it's just one syllable.

The second example, with thing in italics, makes more sense, and seems completely acceptable, at least to me.

I agree.

blacbird · Jul 6, 2017

I've seen it done, for emphasis, but as a reader I dislike it.

caw

xanaphia · Jul 6, 2017

Agree with blackbird. Might as well just italicize the entire word.

Out of curiosity, since it is somewhat on topic, what should I do if I want to emphasize a word within a segment that is already italicized? For example, this is my character's thoughts (or was it a dream sequence? It's was over a year ago). I decided to leave the emphasized word unitalicized, but I am not sure that worked.

"...she had the strangest feeling that she was remembering what he looked like a decade ago, instead of merely imagining it."

Not really concerned over it, since this was fan fiction anyways, never going to be published outside of a fanfic.

Curlz · Jul 7, 2017

xanaphia said:
Out of curiosity, since it is somewhat on topic, what should I do if I want to emphasize a word within a segment that is already italicized?

Use normal font, that would make it stand out.

Cindyt · Jul 7, 2017

Asterism said:
I have a couple instances in my WIP where italicizing part of a word would help deliver the message I'm hoping to make. I am interested if others do this (and whether grammar permits), or whether it is something that might jolt the reader away. Here are the instances provided as examples:

1. They'd won. She'd won.
2. Someone or something was at the corner...

Thanks for your thoughts and any grammatical pedantry.

I'd go with she'd. I see why it's pointed out. Something is fine too. I've used it in the past. But now I use some thing.

I once had a character who accented her ings - going or staying.

Stephen Palmer · Jul 7, 2017

It's easy enough to make she'd 'she would,' then italicize the she.
Partial italicizations are best only used in dialogue.

Maryn · Jul 7, 2017

I'm not a fan of italics, although I used to use them shamelessly.

Now I reserve them for the rare sentence the reader has to hear as I do in my head, for them to comprehend the line. I trust the reader to detect sarcasm or know the appropriate emphasis without me holding their hand.

It cured me of sentences that read like this, which I'm making up on the fly. This wasn't going to work, like, ever. The nerve of Mona, coming after my boyfriend. Well, I'd show her!

And how did I get the cure? Writing for stage, when it's a bad idea to tell the actor how to do his job. The playwright does not direct delivery of lines. You italicize only when the line can't be read correctly without it.

Maryn, embarrassed to admit she wrote like that

Italicizing part of a word

Asterism

Night_Writer

It's all symbolic.

Jeff Bond

LJD

blacbird

xanaphia

Curlz

cutsie-pie

Cindyt

Gettin wiggy wit it

Stephen Palmer

Maryn

Baaa!