voices in my head

I'm just wondering how would you write voices in a persons mind. I've noticed some authors use italics and Ann Bishop uses ** between words like you would quotations marks. But is there a correct way to do this?

 

If the voices sound to the person like other people talking to him, then treat it as ordinary dialogue, with double quotes. Let the context show that the voices are only in his head - gimmicky typography merely distracts the reader.

 

right thanks for that, it makes sense after all if that person thinks the voices are real...

 

i agree... if they're just thoughts, then no marks/gimmicks are needed, just good writing to let the reader 'get' that the character is thinking... italics or other marks just get in the way, are annoying and are not needed by the better writers...

 

Here's an example of what I do. I have a character named Wolf who has a literal darker side to him, who, for simplicity's sake, I named Dark Wolf. Dark Wolf is not another person; just another side to the real character that seems to have a mind of his own. When Dark Wolf is communicating, I use ordinary quotation marks, but I make sure that the audience knows that the voice is only heard by Wolf the first time the dark half appears. However, when Wolf is talking back, he isn't talking aloud, so to make that clear, I use itallics with no quotes--just like if the character were thinking to himself. Otherwise, I would have to clarify that he was thinking the words every time he did so. It's just easier and, in my mind, better this way.

I'm not sure if that'll help you or not. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

 

For unspoken dialogue (thought dialogue) in the thinker's own "voice", The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition (Section 11.47) allows enclosing the dialogue in quotation marks, or omitting any such punctuation as a matter of personal choice; there is no endorsment of italicizing unspoken dialogue. Most writing guides discourage the use of quotation marks as well.

 

Read "Crime and Punishment" and you will get a good look at how to write about voices in one's head. Or Steppenwolf by Hesse is another great example that comes to mind.