Another NOOB question

Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Alesia, Jun 8, 2013.

  1. Scot McPhie

    Scot McPhie Member

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    .
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2014
  2. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    I suspect he meant "protracted argument."
     
  3. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Oh! Got it.
     
  4. PyrZern

    PyrZern Member

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    I thought option C is the most approved one (O o) !
     
  5. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I'm not so sure about that. It does seem clear that some parties definitely think that italicized thoughts are _wrong_--to the extent that you wouldn't want to submit writing containing italicized thoughts to those parties.

    It's possible to write so that italics for thoughts are never needed for clear understanding. Therefore, you can write your manuscript so that for every submission, you can research the target magazine or agent or publisher's standards for italics in thoughts, and format thoughts accordingly. With a named style for thoughts, that formatting would take seconds.

    However, if you write so that italics are needed, you don't have that freedom. If you want to submit to a party that objects to italicized thoughts, you actually have to rewrite.
     
  6. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Why is "using" the equivalent of "needed"?
     
  7. archerfenris

    archerfenris Active Member

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    Italics makes internal monologue very easy to read. In my opinion it flows better. All others are perfectly acceptable. I see no reason to discount any option as "sloppy" when its used frequently by published authors. Like a previous poster said, some publishers simply may not like it, causing you to have to rewrite those thoughts. That would be a pain. To tell someone to not use one option or the other because "it's sloppy" or "I don't like it" seems (to me) to be limiting the creativity and sovereignty of the writer.

    Plainly said: Do whatever you want. It's your writing.
     
  8. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    It's not. I never said it was. Thoughts, and the narrative around them, can be written so that their status as thoughts is clear, without needing italics. (And also usually without a lot of explicit "He thought..." tags.) However, if you choose, you can then still use italics.

    You can write so that:

    - You don't need or use italics for thoughts.
    - You use italics for thoughts, but you don't need them.
    - You use italics for thoughts, and you need them.

    I recommend the first, but the second gives you the maximum flexibility. (Edited to add: Maximum flexibility as long as those italicized thoughts use a style that you can quickly and easily change.)
     
  9. Burlbird

    Burlbird Contributor Contributor

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    Ignoring the history and achievements in writing monologues (and ignoring most of the history of the art form itself, hey!) - I wonder: if creating an italic text is a mouse-click away from not, why is it such a hard question at all? Is it that hard to simply chech out how books of your (desired/future/potential) publisher are formatted - this goes for anything else, up to the craziest experiments - and simply re-format your manuscript if necessary? I mean, if nowadays you can do a complete DTP up to actual printing on your own -...
     
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  10. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

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    (deleted because it's pointless to argue)
     
  11. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    I've done my best to not make any unsupported assertions since that's the thing I'm most bothered about in this discussion. You don't have to agree with the 'experts' I cited. You don't have to agree with my interpretation of the quote I posted. You don't have to go back through the other thread and find the other sources I cited where the authors stated they preferred the italics convention. But I do wish you would reconsider the accusation you made that I lied.
     
  12. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

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    Ginger, stop flaming. I never said any member of this forum was 'lying'. I will no longer respond to your posts because it is, as I said above, pointless.
     
  13. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Fine, I'll take this as a misstatement then:
    I fail to see how that is not an accusation of lying.


    Now if you only hadn't added the new false accusation about flaming.:( Because I'm trying very hard to discuss the issues here and not ignite a flame war. That's why I said, "I wish you would reconsider," rather than something more 'flamey'.
     
  14. ChaosReigns

    ChaosReigns Ov The Left Hand Path Contributor

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    as Cogito said, B is the correct one, but my preferance tends to lean towards C to differentiate it from the rest of my text, but it isnt uncommon for any of them to be used
     
  15. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    B) seems to me to be the best and most-used approach. You can deviate from the rules all you want, so long as you do so effectively. You might also take a look at the genre in which you are writing. I don't see much italicization of internal monologue in thrillers, for example. At least not in the ones I read. The authors tend to follow approach B). I do see a fair amount of italics for internal monologue in Fantasy, including by well-respected, successful writers. Though people can argue their opinions about what is proper and what isn't, if nothing else you can see that the italics approach is accepted within Fantasy, so if you're writing in that genre you're not doing something that is going to throw the reader or make the reader frown at the quality of your writing (and even if you adopt the italics approach, you can't use it as a lazy way around good writing; the use of it isn't inherently lazy but it may well be easier to slip into lazy writing with that approach, so it is something to guard against). Ultimately, it is up to you as the writer to determine the approach for your book, and then to ensure that whatever approach you adopt you implement it well and write an interesting, engaging story.
     

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