What is preferred punctuation for unspoken thoughts?

[HikingThru]

For example,

Why didn't I think to check her phone? John thought.



I read in a guide that double quotation marks should NOT be used for unspoken words, but beyond that, in Literotica stories, I've seen single quotes, italics, and nothing, etc., used with varying clarity.

Thanks.

 

[jaF0]

I would probably use Italics in single quotes.


'Did I just say that out loud while I typed it?'

 

[TarnishedPenny]

So long as Gentle Reader can understand, it works. I often use italics, no question marks.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

OK, but let's try it a different way:

Bill clomped into the conference room on his ridiculous faux-leather cowboy boots, five minutes late as usual, and looked around in the way he always did just before he was about to say something reprehensible. He was looking for either women or someone who wasn't white in ear-shot.

I was really getting sick of his shit, and he'd only been in the room for twelve seconds.

"Sorry I'm late," Bill barked. "The wife wouldn't let me out the door. She can't get enough of it!"

Sure she can't, dick-face.

He grabbed his crotch, having not seen any women in the room yet, and let go just before Rachel strode in and called the meeting to order.​

or, with minor changes:

Bill clomped into the conference room on his ridiculous faux-leather cowboy boots, five minutes late as usual, and looked around in the way he always did just before he was about to say something reprehensible. He was looking for either women or someone who wasn't white in ear-shot.

I'm really getting sick of his shit, I thought, and he's only been in the room for twelve seconds.

"Sorry I'm late," Bill barked. "The wife wouldn't let me out the door. She can't get enough of it!"

Sure she can't, dick-face.

He grabbed his crotch, having not seen any women in the room yet, and let go just before Rachel strode in and called the meeting to order.​

I think some sort of indication, be it punctuation or a change in font, makes it clearer.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

So long as Gentle Reader can understand, it works. I often use italics, no question marks.

yup. ^^^

 

[ElectricBlue]

yup. ^^^

Same. ^^^ Italics, no quotation marks. Removes any ambiguity.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

^^^ That's fine for the website, but LitApp for Android strips out all html(formatting).

I use single quotes for thoughts. Along with italics, that way on the android app the read get a clue. Plus I add - he/she thought. Just to make it clear.

Some of you authors should, if you have an android phone that is all yours, load the LitApp and read some of your own stories.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Some of you authors should, if you have an android phone that is all yours, load the LitApp and read some of your own stories.

Hmmm, point taken. There's no way of knowing, though, what percentage of readers use only phones to read; that is, do we sacrifice a legitimate writing tool to accommodate the lowest common denominator? I'm not a fan of dumbing down for convenience. Standards, sir, we have to have standards .

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Not working with Android, I wasn't aware of that. I still have to agree with EB66 however.

In the end, as already noted, it's the author's choice,

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Hmmm, point taken. There's no way of knowing, though, what percentage of readers use only phones to read; that is, do we sacrifice a legitimate writing tool to accommodate the lowest common denominator? I'm not a fan of dumbing down for convenience. Standards, sir, we have to have standards .

I use the LitApp a lot. It's easier to use my phone when I'm in bed, than a lap top. I don't have a tablet at this time, but I would put the app on it if I had one. Also, the App also tends to chop our carriage return(paragraph marks) a lot. I have reported all problems I have found so far, yet to see and update.

As a long time paperback reader, I also have to ask, when was the last time anyone saw some fancy formatting in a paperback.

Also, eBook readers allow the reader to change the font and size of the font at their whim. So all the thought and time you put in to attempting to format the story the way you would like it to look is all for naught. Just write. The only formatting your should worry about is readability.

 

[Vaylon]

I prefer writing in which most of the narrative could be understood as a character's thoughts. If your point of view is limited enough, it should be easy to tell that a character is thinking without marking it in a special way. But italics work too.

I agree with this. In first-person or even a third-person limited narrative, you probably don't need italics to delineate thought from the surrounding text; I personally would find it distracting to the eye. (Although, in third-person limited, I might use "she thought" to indicate where a thought begins.) In longer works with multiple points of view, you might consider using italics to help the reader understand where the thoughts begin -- but, again, they aren't a requirement.

There aren't any hard-and-fast rules. Consistency within the work is key for clarity.

 

[SimonDoom]

I believe the Chicago Manual of Style "rule" is that there is no rule: one can use quotation marks or italics as one wishes to indicate interior thoughts.

I avoid use of italics in my Lit stories because I like to keep formatting very simple. So I either use quotation marks, or nothing at all, or render the thought as part of the narrative:

"He's an idiot," Mark thought.

He's an idiot, Mark thought.

Mark thought he was an idiot.

As long as you are consistent and appropriately keep unspoken thoughts and spoken dialogue apart, there are many ways to do this, and there is no one right way.

 

[jaF0]

I thought to myself as I pondered the question, 'Fuck Chicago and Apps, I do my shit my way.'

 

[thewinedarksea]

Another vote for no special formatting at all for unspoken thoughts. It's quite simple to do, particularly if you only have one character's inner thoughts to deal with. If you're writing in first-person, it's pretty much all inner thoughts in any case. You don't even need to add "she thought" tags most of the time.

If you're getting into a telepathy situation, or some other complicated plot point requires a lot of unspoken "speech," then italics may be necessary. But I can't think of a good reason to clutter up your work with italics and quotation marks.

Keep it simple, she thought. It's better that way.