The Word Cloud

11 Comments

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  by stephenterry 9 months ago

  Yes, italics and on a separate para. If you use 'he thought' after the thought then the thought is not in italics.
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  by Tony 9 months ago

  Different writers use different tequniques. The main thing is, quotation marks aren't used, and often a new paragraph - as you'd use for speech - isn't either. I prefer to use italics for the thoughts, some don't, but either way you may still have to add, 'he thought'. Depending on the context you may not need to, just as you don't always need to add, 'he said' when it is obvious who is speaking.
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  by Weens 9 months ago

  Thanks guys. I've added a second question and would welcome your thoughts.
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  by Caducean Whisks 9 months ago

  Weens, I started a thread a couple of years ago, asking the same question; it's tricky, isn't it? One thing that came up, was it differs if it's first or third person - more natural in 1st person. Anyway, to save repeating the discussion, here it is: http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/forum/topic/876
  As for your second question, I'd be inclined to close the quotes for the speech and italicise the thought then re-open the quotes, thus: 'Would you like a cup of tea?' *Hope she doesn't*. 'And a sandwich too?'
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  by Tony 9 months ago

  Yes, I'd agree with Whisks, definitely. No new line. And this is a good example of context allowing you to leave out any 'he thought' type of identification. (Interesting thread that you've linked to, W. Ta.)
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  by stephenterry 9 months ago

  As it's the same person, then it's continuous without needing a new para, but some writers don't use italics but say, he thought - or do as CW suggests, which is perfectly sound and flows better IMO...
  
  As to third person narrative, treat it as first person when thinking. Or try and avoid the 'I' and 'my' e.g. *shit happens*
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  by Weens 9 months ago

  Thanks for flagging that up. It's an interesting post with food for thought. I think I'm going to have to play around with it and see which one works the best. I can see a problem with consistency raising it's head though. I don't know, I lurch from one question to another.
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  by stephenterry 9 months ago

  Hi Weens, I use thoughts for effect - in other words, it's important. Therefore the new italic para with all that white space around it gives that emphasis quite nicely.
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  by Tony 9 months ago

  I see, Stephen; I guess that makes sense. I normally have just fleeting thoughts, perhaps that contrast with what the character is actually saying - or expand upon it, hense continuing on the same line.
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  by stephenterry 9 months ago

  yeah Tony, I see and probably also sensible in certain types of literature. I'm writing in the crime genre and it's a bit like crash, bang, thank you ma'am - impact is everything. Even expletives in a crisis situation.
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  by Weens 9 months ago

  Thanks Tony and Stephen for your comments. It just shows that everyone does it differently. Initially, I had them in italics on their own line and I was happy with them, but I read in a blog the way that they 'should' be written and got confused and in a muddle and lost sight of how they should be done. I think I'll just follow my gut and see if they get picked up when I send my MS for a report.