I'm not talking about isolated thoughts. I mean in an extended piece in which the person who's telling the story is engaging in extensive dialogue and is also telling you his/her thought process, how do you distinguish between the two? Italics is a possibility for the thoughts, but might look cluttery after a bit. Or no quotes, just a comma at the end of the thought before the "I thought." Here is a fictitious, over-simplified example:
"I love your shirt!" I said.
"How tacky it looks!" I thought.
or
"Do you want to go out tonight?" I asked.
"Please, please, please be free!" I thought.
I don't see anything that explicitly deals with this in my grammar books. They just advise to use italics sparingly, or else it makes your writing look amateurish. And as I said before, the writing I am talking about is FULL of things verbalized and thoughts not verbalized.
If anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate it! And if you know of any sources on the issue, that would be even better! Than
2006-12-26 10:13:47 · 7 answers · asked by Kris 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Quotations
Different writers handle this in different ways. I have read some that indicate all thoughts in italics, and others that don't make any indication at all (no italics, no quotations marks, no nothing). I don't recall reading anything where quotation marks indicated thoughts, though.
I have just finished reading a novel that uses so many different voices as narrators and thoughts and storytellers that it demands close reading, but I quite liked it. It may be hard to find, but it's called Salt, by Earl Lovelace. You might want to check it out, especially since you're looking for ways to express unverbalized thoughts in your own work.
Good luck!
2006-12-26 10:19:25 · answer #1 · answered by Victoria 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can consult the Chicago Manual of Style. But I think the way you presented it in your examples is effective and appropriate, and as you indicated, I don't think you'll find much advice on the subject. I've rarely seen it handled differently, and I don't see why it should be.
Your words, not use of typeface, should be the primary vessels for meaning, emotion and emphasis in your writing. If you put words together skillfully, any such technique will be superfluous, and could even confuse the reader.
PS: Use exclamation points sparingly (e.g., when a character is yelling or screaming).
2006-12-26 10:15:50 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It just seems a little ackward. Why not do something like:
"I love your shirt!" I said, while in reality I couldnt stop thinking about how tacky it looks.
That seems easier to read because a) doesnt mess the flow of reading. b) It can be confusing by putting qoutes because of the ambiguity of the speaker sometimes.
2006-12-26 10:18:41 · answer #3 · answered by radioheadjam 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sounds really interested
2016-08-08 22:29:28 · answer #4 · answered by Annetta 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Err.... as a last resort, underline the points you want to emphasize...
2006-12-26 10:15:28 · answer #5 · answered by Arashikitty 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your suggestions seem fitting for the task. The only way to season it differently would be to place the quotation at the end of the sentence.
"Do you want to go out tonight," John asked Susie as he thought, "Please, please, please be free!"
2006-12-26 10:23:30 · answer #6 · answered by jake_deyo 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow! thanks! I was wondering the same thing today
2016-08-23 13:43:57 · answer #7 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋