Thanks, Ray. I'm in the process of taking a final sweep through my manuscript. This is something I'll be more deliberate about looking for as I read through it again.
Nat On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 10:46 PM, Raymond Feist <[email protected]>wrote: > > On Jul 16, 2012, at 6:23 PM, Nat Russo wrote: > > > Hi Ray! (and countless other writers I know are out there...) > > > > It seems like for every bit of advice, there's a contrary opinion. I've > developed a habit of using italics to represent certain inner thoughts. > Not generic internalization, but thoughts expressed as dialog (or even > conversations that happen telepathically, for example). I've now started > to read blogs where editors get somewhat infuriated over aspiring writers > who do this. > > > > The other area in which I use italics is to highlight words that I've > invented. If, for example, I create an alien race that has a specific > (fictional) word that means "inner peace", or some other concept that can > only be expressed by a full sentence in English, then I will italicize the > invented word. > > > > I'm not particularly sure why I do either, other than to say that's what > I've seen done by the pros. But now I'm wondering if I did the right > thing, or if, like some editors say, it's the sure sign of an amateur. > > > > What's your take on italics? > > Chicago Handbook of Style, or Strunk & White if the other is too big to > plow through. > > Italics should be used sparingly. Most rookie writers overuse it for > emphasis. I've used it for that, sparingly. If I've used it 50 times in > 30 books I'll be surprised. You do use it for foreign words, that's > classic style, and some writers use it for things like telepathy, which I > do in my books. Others use it for clearly indicated internal dialogue > within a character who's also the POV character so the reader doesn't get > confused what the narrative voice is saying and what the character is > thinking. > > Whatever you choose to do, go light on it. > > Best, R.E.F. > > ---- > www.crydee.com > > Never attribute to malice what can satisfactorily be explained away by > stupidity. > > > > > > > > -- Sent from my Crappy Laptop (tm) using a poor excuse for a web browser.
