Trying to decide the best way to write texts and diary entries into my novel. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Hi Rebecca welcome to the forum - I've moved your other thread to word mechanics which is probably the most likely place for that sort of query. to help you get started check out our new members guide New Member Quick Start and if you have any questions please feel free to ask
It really depends on the time period your story is set in. There are certain formatting rules and options you need to be aware of; the diary entries should be in italics and I've seen them with narrower page margins than the rest of the text. Do not under any circumstances begin a diary entry with: "Dear Diary,"... My WIP takes place in the France of 1792, as the Revolution enters its bloodier stage. One of my three protagonists, a 12-year-old by the name of, Adeline has been sent away for safekeeping by her parents. Adeline is a well kept girl from a good family; Papa is a wealthy merchant and Mother comes from bankrupt nobility. Her parents have booked Adeline passage on a smuggler's ship bound for the south of France. As Adeline travels down the Loire River in the company of rough men she is of course a little terrified at these unfamiliar surroundings. I decided to include Adeline's diary entries to illustrate how the fussy, exceeding well educated and proud girl will become a better person during her journey... and other, darker things too. As Adeline is well educated and well read, and not without some sense of adventure, her entries begin very formally; each one dated and given a title... 13 November, 1792 My first day aboard the Viola. And so on... Make sure the diary entries end up with their own narrative arc. You can impart on the reader certain information that even the writer herself isn't aware of, so take advantage of it. Weave a mystery into the scribblings! Also, be true to the character. These are her intimate thoughts and musings, not yours. And good luck!
Thank you, my journal entries are more along the line of somebody reading his journal, not so much him writing in it and not one of them say Dear Diary. LOL I'm mainly just trying to figure the best way to format it.
