Quotation Marks

FlyWrite · Jan 9, 2008

When expressing a character's thoughts, do you use quotation marks?
Example: Mark ran his fingers through his hair and wondered, "what do I do now?"

scarletpeaches · Jan 9, 2008

I don't. I underline, to show italics.

That is, unless there's a dialogue tag.

So a typical paragraph could look something like this, in my manuscript format (from my unpublished epic tale of starcrossed lovers):

I wish scarletpeaches didn't live so far away, seun thought. Mind you, I'm a dirty pervert and she doesn't fancy bald guys anyway.

YMMV.

IceCreamEmpress · Jan 9, 2008

FlyWrite said:
When expressing a character's thoughts, do you use quotation marks?
Example: Mark ran his fingers through his hair and wondered, "what do I do now?"

That's certainly one way to do it (although you need a capital letter on "What"), so:

Mark ran his fingers through his hair and wondered, "What do I do now?"

Another option is:

Mark ran his fingers through his hair. What do I do now? he wondered.

Those are the two most common approaches. Do the one that works best for you. If you wind up getting published by folks who do the other one, some nice copyeditor will change them all for you.

FlyWrite · Jan 10, 2008

Thank You

Thank you. I appreciate your replies.

AppleTree76 · Jan 10, 2008

Can't you just put there thoughts in italics? Do you really need to put "he wondered"?

IceCreamEmpress · Jan 10, 2008

AppleTree76 said:
Can't you just put there thoughts in italics? Do you really need to put "he wondered"?

Yep, you could just put the character's thoughts in italics.

Mark ran his fingers through his hair. What do I do now?

RestlessHeart · Jan 10, 2008

AppleTree76 said:
Can't you just put there thoughts in italics? Do you really need to put "he wondered"?

I never used quote in thoughts. If a person is talking to himself silently, or thinking to himself. I use Italics.

If a person say his thoughts out loud, I would use quotes.

brer · Jan 10, 2008

interior monologue

FlyWrite said:
When expressing a character's thoughts, do you use quotation marks?
Example: Mark ran his fingers through his hair and wondered, "what do I do now?"

I'd suggest that you get a good book or two on the mechanics of writing fiction. A good one, imo, is: Browne and King's "Self-editing for Fiction Writers," 2004.

On pages 122-124: (the highlighting is mine)

Once you have, how do you handle your mechanics so that the interior monologue reads smoothly and professionally? As with dialogue mechanics, the sterling value is unobtusiveness. And there is one actual rule, about the only one we will give you: Never, ever use quotes with your interior monologue. It is not merely poor style; it is, by today's standards, ungrammatical. Thoughts are thought, and not spoken.

Also, it's rarely a good idea to have your characters mumble to themselves or speak under their breath:
"Yes, sir, I'll get right on it, sir," he said, then muttered, "soon as I finish lunch."

It might occasionally be possible to get away with this, assuming a sufficiently sullen character in a lightweight story, but it's almost always going to come off as a contrivance.

Other than these two caveats, how you handle your interior monologue depends almost entirely on your narrative distance. Everybody thinks in his or her own words, so your characters' interior monologue is, like their dialogue, always in their voice. To the extent that your narrative is in a different voice, you need to set the interior monologue off, to indicate that it's separate.

When the distinction is sharp, you could use thinker attributions--phrases such as "he thought" or "she wondered." Like speaker attributions, these mechanical tags usually serve to let your readers know who is thinking what. Very nearly the only time you need them is when you're writing from an extremely distant point of view, . . .

And on page 126:

Another technique for setting off interior monologue sharply is to write it in the first person (often in italics) when your narrative is in the third, a technique that is most effective when the passage of interior monologue is a self-conscious, internal thought--interior dialogue, in effect.

Hope this helps you.

Good luck with your writing.

Bufty · Jan 11, 2008

If you are in your character's POV and the narrative is flowing properly it should be obvious when he is thinking - without the need for any tags or 'thinking' markers.

BlueLucario · Jan 12, 2008

FlyWrite said:
When expressing a character's thoughts, do you use quotation marks?
Example: Mark ran his fingers through his hair and wondered, "what do I do now?"

You can use single quotation marks, for thoughts. Or you can use Italics, so it's an easy read try making it Times New Roman.

Matera the Mad · Jan 15, 2008

I use no markers at all when the stream of consciousness blends in - that is, when the character is thinking and doing at the same time...hmm, I hope that made sense. When there is a sharp distinction such as a sudden brainstorm or a silent prayer, I italicize.

In this sniplet, I use both, because the character is thinking of what he wants to say:
------------
He wanted to tell him that he didn't have to be stronger, braver, ten times smarter than everyone else. I've had more than enough of someone who thinks he's better than the rest. It is enough to live among good people, to know their love. All I want is to know what you want, so that I won't offend or hurt you.... Could he tell him that? It was so hard to find the words when he needed them, and hard to say them, hard to know how they would be taken.
------------

I find overuse of italics irritating, and quotation marks seem disruptive. Also, putting both speech and thought in the same paragraph poses a problem:

"Thank you, Jill," Mary said. "It was so nice of you and Jack to invite me to dinner." Yeah, and I know where you got that lamb roast.

Quotation Marks

FlyWrite

scarletpeaches

IceCreamEmpress

Hapless Virago

FlyWrite

AppleTree76

IceCreamEmpress

Hapless Virago

RestlessHeart

brer

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

BlueLucario

Blood Elves FTW

Matera the Mad

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint