Character inner dialog - italics ?

[GhostWr1ter]

What is the recommendation on formatting inner dialog? Meaning the thoughts of a character. Assume the setup implies which character is thinking. My stories usually only get in the head of one character anyway.

I normally do not use tags (he/she thought), I normally use italics. Is that acceptable if noted in the submission? (as per submission requirements FAQ).

I read a very nice dialogue thread that was posted years ago (in the resources section) she covered dialog nicely but not inner thoughts.

Thanks.

 

[MarieWriter]

turn on your Private Message ability

 

[sr71plt]

I've always liked italics for interior dialogue and there are publishers in the United States who use it. If you want to follow Chicago Manual of Style standards, though, which is the standard for U.S. fiction publishing, you will use double quotes, just like for dialogue, or no quotes or italics at all (which is a bit clearer, but not as clear, I think as italics would be) (CMS 13.41). Chicago does not currently include italics as a acceptable for this.

 

[Nezhul]

Italics or double quotes.
Quotes is stylistically more correct, but italics are becoming more and more popular.
With quotes you have to use tags, that will clearly express that it is a thought not a speech.

I prefer italics for 1st person stories or those when the story is concentrated around a single character. And quotes if it is 3rd person.

I may be forgetting something, but I think Pratchett uses single quotes for speech and doubles for thoughts.

 

[sr71plt]

The only time single quotes are used for dialogue in the U.S. system is for quotes within quotes (Chicago Manual of Style, 13.28).

 

[Bramblethorn]

I may be forgetting something, but I think Pratchett uses single quotes for speech and doubles for thoughts.

My copy of Pratchett's "Men at Arms" uses single quotes for speech (except for Death of course), but nothing at all for thoughts:

Doesn't he ever sleep? thought Vimes. Doesn't the bloody man ever get his head down? Isn't there a room somewhere with a black dressing gown hanging on the door?

He knocked on the door of the Oblong Office. 'Ah, captain,' said the Patrician, looking up from his paperwork. 'You were commendably quick.'

That's a recent UK hardcover edition. I don't know if that style has been applied consistently across all his UK editions, and I would expect that US editions will follow US style.

 

[Kimikimidoll]

My copy of Pratchett's "Men at Arms" uses single quotes for speech (except for Death of course), but nothing at all for thoughts:

That's a recent UK hardcover edition. I don't know if that style has been applied consistently across all his UK editions, and I would expect that US editions will follow US style.

No, that's right, I have The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic, older, and printed in the US. It was a bit difficult at times to figure out what was being said in the character's head and what was going on outside, but then I realized- everything is always written from a point of view!

He needed the italics to place stress on words or for magical head brain eating worm thoughts and such.
I also use this method of writing.

 

[HeyAll]

Yeah, there's two ways if you're writing in 3rd person.

1) Italics-

I made a terrible mistake.

2) Adding, she said.

I realized I've made a terrible mistake, she thought.

 

[Kimikimidoll]

Yeah, there's two ways if you're writing in 3rd person.

1) Italics-

I made a terrible mistake.

2) Adding, she said.

I realized I've made a terrible mistake, she thought.

Yes, that's a good method. The problem happens when the internal dialogue becomes a monologue. Too many words, and he thought she felt gets buried in somewhere.

 

[Nezhul]

The only time single quotes are used for dialogue in the U.S. system is for quotes within quotes (Chicago Manual of Style, 13.28).

To tell the truth, Pratchett is the only author I know of who uses single quotes. Even other British authors seem to prefer double quotes for speech.

 

[Bramblethorn]

To tell the truth, Pratchett is the only author I know of who uses single quotes. Even other British authors seem to prefer double quotes for speech.

Picking a small sample from my shelves, UK editions of UK authors seem to use single quotes more often than not. My Pratchett, Clive Barker, J.K. Rowling, and Iain M. Banks all have singles; only Charles Stross has doubles.

But US editions of those same authors may well use double quotes; publishers will often tweak that sort of thing to fit a house style. There are numerous small differences between UK and US editions of Harry Potter, for instance.

 

[sr71plt]

U.S. publishers once routinely changed dialogue quote marks in British works they published from single to double quotes. Lately they've more or less left them as they are. They are understandable to the readers as long as they are consistent.

 

[Nezhul]

Hmmm I must have read US version of Harry Potter, because I could have sworn Rowling used doubles.
Oh well... Either that or I forgot.

Anyway I think double quotes for speech is the way to go.

A fun fact - in Russia quotes are not standard at all. Our direct speech looks like this:
- Thank you, - Jim said, - You helped me a lot.
- No problem.

And then for thoughts you can use double quotes. But I don't recommend this style because it's not widespread.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Hmmm I must have read US version of Harry Potter, because I could have sworn Rowling used doubles.
Oh well... Either that or I forgot.

For Harry Potter there's an easy way to tell. If the first book was titled "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", it's the UK edition; US title is "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone".

A fun fact - in Russia quotes are not standard at all. Our direct speech looks like this:
- Thank you, - Jim said, - You helped me a lot.
- No problem.

I've read one English-language book which used that style: Alan Paton's "Cry, The Beloved Country". That's the only time I can recall seeing it. Now I'm curious about why it used that style. (Maybe a South African quirk? I have no idea.)

 

[sr71plt]

Back on inner dialogue. I wouldn't use double quotes for inner dialogue at all (even though the CMS sanctions it and not italics). It's too easy for a reader to confuse that with spoken dialogue.

 

[Nezhul]

I just finished reading Coiling Dragon, where inner dialogue is as common as direct speech. And if done right there's no confusion whatsoever.

 

[sr71plt]

I just finished reading Coiling Dragon, where inner dialogue is as common as direct speech. And if done right there's no confusion whatsoever.

Done how? We're talking three different choices--actually four, but chances are good that single quotes would be rejected here, because this is a U.S.-based site, and single quotes for inner dialogue isn't used by any authority in U.S. publishing. Does Coiling Dragon use double quotes for both spoken and inner dialogue? With a lot of dialogue tags? Or does it use nothing special (using dialogue tags to indicate that it's thoughts?) or italics?