POLL : Which method for WORD emphasis

[Ysoi]

Along the lines of the whole sentence poll, which method of single/multiple word emphasis would you rather read?

For my part, I would prefer bold to CAPS, but if it helps reduce the literotica workload and other people don't mind which, I would change to CAPS.

I've removed Setence Caps from this poll as it could too easily look like a typo. Punctuation has also been removed as it would emphasise the whole sentence / fragment.

Ysoi

 

[sun_sea_sky]

I've removed Setence Caps from this poll as it could too easily look like a typo.

Setence Caps does indeed look like a typo.

 

[TE999]

Setence Caps does indeed look like a typo.

A whole sentence in caps is considered hollering in Internet messages and is poor Netiquette. I can see an occasional use in a story for emphasis like KABOOM! or WHAT?, but heavy use of italics is jarring and you look like a Net N00b.

 

[Stella_Omega]

If you mean in the forums, italics are imperative, bolding is to make a strong point, and allcaps is SHOUTING.

In fiction, keep it minimal, so as not to distract the reader from her reading. Italics are enough for almost everything. Italics plus an exclamation point if you need one.

 

[Ysoi]

My thoughts on WORD emphasis

Bold - looks good, usually easy to spot - problem is it requires RTF that slows down story submission / increases workload on literotica.

Italic - for me a bit harder to spot than bold, at least with some fonts. Same problems as bold.

ALL CAPS - bearing in mind this is NOT for a whole sentence, perhaps okay. Preferred method when bold not available.

Underlining - just looks odd when more than multiple adjacent words are underlined.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I like to use all caps, but only for single words, or two at the most.

You did WHAT?

"Oh! Oh! OH!" she cried joyously.

I realize the exclamation point is usually enough, but sometimes I want a little more than that, and sometimes the exclamation is a question.

 

[sun_sea_sky]

You did what?

She looked at his cock. "Oh, it's so exciting!", she said.

 

[sun_sea_sky]

Bold - looks good, usually easy to spot - problem is it requires RTF that slows down story submission / increases workload on literotica.

Italic - for me a bit harder to spot than bold, at least with some fonts. Same problems as bold.

Both <B>Bold</B> and <I>Italic</I> can be submitted through pasting into the story box. I've only ever used that.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

CAPS nazis have OCD and oughta be politely ignored when they erupt. Think of them as Rainman.

 

[xelliebabex]

I like to use all caps, but only for single words, or two at the most.

You did WHAT?

"Oh! Oh! OH!" she cried joyously.

I realize the exclamation point is usually enough, but sometimes I want a little more than that, and sometimes the exclamation is a question.

This is pretty much what I do too. I like this thread it gives me alternatives to what comes easiest and makes me think about the audience.
I find italics are great for longer passages that are extra's to the story line; song lyrics, letters, or prophecy. I don't think they give the same emphasis on certain words like caps caps can.

"Come here," the girl was paralyzed in fear, NOW!" he roared.

 

[Handley_Page]

Each method has a different emphasis, so one could use all of the available ones.
That said, I use italics for "thoughts".

 

[Ysoi]

Both <B>Bold</B> and <I>Italic</I> can be submitted through pasting into the story box. I've only ever used that.

Thanks, sun_sea_sky - didn't know that!
Will have to experiment with the story box next time.

 

[sr71plt]

As with question on emphasizing sentences, for the U.S. market, there is an authoritative answer to this--in the Chicago Manual of Style. It would be italics. I don't have my references with me as I'm on a foreign vacation, but if people are still fumbling around on personal preference when I get home, I can cite the CMS section on this (not that anyone will pay attention to an authoritative answer to the question. ).

 

[Ysoi]

You've misread the question #2

As with question on emphasizing sentences, for the U.S. market, there is an authoritative answer to this--in the Chicago Manual of Style. It would be italics. I don't have my references with me as I'm on a foreign vacation, but if people are still fumbling around on personal preference when I get home, I can cite the CMS section on this (not that anyone will pay attention to an authoritative answer to the question. ).

Actually, you cannot give an authoritative answer to the question that I posed - unless the manual states what each of the responders personally prefers to read.

Having said that, thank you for your input! I was hoping that someone would mention that manual or some other nationalities equivalent. Does the manual distinguish between whole sentence emphasis and single/multi word emphasis?

COMMENT NOT RELEVANT TO THIS POLL :
>>>>
As I mentioned above, for me long lines of italics / bold look odd when right next to ordinary text, so in those situations I might go for the extra punctuation option. For the way in which my characters tend to speak, (disbelief and questioning) that normally involves using "?!" rather than just "?", but I can imagine "!!" might look odd...
<<<<

Ysoi

 

[Quiet_Cool]

It doesn't matter whether you're writing on the Forum or writing fiction, you're attempting to communicate either way. There's only one way to do that. It's understandable to shorten words on a Forum post, if you don't type so well or are rushed, but writing things out and using the appropriate context is just basic communication. There's no real reason to deviate.

Q_C

 

[sr71plt]

Actually, you cannot give an authoritative answer to the question that I posed - unless the manual states what each of the responders personally prefers to read.

Bullshit. The authorities are there so that you don't willy-nilly do it a thousand ways by assuming what "each of the responders personally prefers to read." Standards--in this instance and in most others--aren't set to meet any and all personal preferences on anything.

Yes, you can give authoritative answers when the industry in question has set authoritative standards. And, for this particular question, in U.S. publishing I did give an authoritative answer. And if the nonsense is still going on in discussing it when I get back to the States, I'll happily cite the authoritative section of the Chicago Manual of Style. That said, you can jolly well do it anyway you like on Literotica (that doesn't get rejected). But don't expect the general reader to understand what the hell you're doing if you don't use the standards. It's to prevent this misunderstanding that we have the standards set.

We don't set up what two cars are supposed to do when they meet at an intersection on the basis of "what each of the responders personally prefers to" do. There are authoritative standards all over the place.

 

[Ysoi]

SR71PLT, you have completely missed the point

Bullshit. The authorities are there so that you don't willy-nilly do it a thousand ways by assuming what "each of the responders personally prefers to read." Standards--in this instance and in most others--aren't set to meet any and all personal preferences on anything.

If I had asked the following question, what would your answer have been?

"When you eat bread, what sort of texture do you "PREFER" it to have?"

"Hard and slightly sandy? Well I'll have you know that 'THE AUTHORITIES' say you're wrong."

Though I am interested in knowing what "THE AUTHORITIES" think we should do, my question was which sort of emphasis do people prefer to read. You might not have noticed that in the options for each poll I have included hints as to the problems that I personally have with each style - i.e. I find it hard to recognise italics sometimes. As well as knowing what the readers prefer, I was interested in their reasons - perhaps I wasn't alone in my problem with italics, in which I case I intended to stick to using bold. Perhaps people thought that CAPS were fine, in which case that gave me an easy way to reduce the workload on the literotica system as well as improving the reader's experience - I'll quite happily adjust to what other people want.

Now perhaps I'm naïve, and perhaps as you say I should never quit my day job to start writing, but when I look at the poll that I posted, the question that I asked and the way that I've responded as compared to yourself, I wonder which ought to reconsider his/her behaviour? How interesting that you can decide a person's suitability to becoming an author purely on whether or not he/she instantly agrees that your bible does indeed dictate what people "PREFER".

As much as you might enjoy your power-trip in being able to quote a manual, that does not give you the right to fail to answer a question and then insult me when I point out your mistake but at the same time thank you for your input.

Anyway! Please excuse the excessive emphasis placed on the word "PREFER", I'm just hoping that you might read it and realize what exactly it was that I asked and how it differed from what you answered.

Ysoi

 

[sr71plt]

And you miss the point on writing for publication (with Literotica being a form of publication). Writing for publication isn't about meeting every possible reader's personal preferences. So your question is pretty silly from the get go.

 

[oggbashan]

One peculiarity of the internet is that readers and users can set their own font, size of type and appearance of text on screen. Unlike books published in hard copy that are designed and printed in one style that is fixed on the page, the screen display of stories on a computer can be as flexible as the reader wants them to be.

In the early days of the internet, text displays weren't always compatible unless ASCII was used. Plain .txt files were easiest to share. Other formats needed conversion. Remember converting WordPerfect to WordStar and losing something in the process?

While it is interesting to discuss how to emphasise in stories posted on Literotica, that story could be downloaded and appear in a different format. Will all your carefully considered tags remain?

As an author writing for the internet I try to avoid anything other than plain text with line breaks. If I want to emphasise something, I prefer to use methods that do not involve tags.

But how you emphasise is your choice. Mine is to just use words, plain unembellished words.

You can choose your own way. The real test is whether what I do, or what you do, works for the reader whatever device or display settings are used.

 

[PennLady]

Along the lines of the whole sentence poll, which method of single/multiple word emphasis would you rather read?

If you are reading something that's been published by a publishing house -- and I'm not talking self-published authors here -- it is likely to have been made to adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style standards. To emphasize a word or phrase, italics are used.

I have to say that italics are what I'm used to, so that is what I prefer. I have certainly seen, and in some cases -- email, forum posts -- used all caps instead, because it's easier sometimes that finding the tag. Or, because such tags or formats are not supported.

So often it's not a matter of what a reader prefers; it's what is standard, and standard is italics. Then, down the ladder at a distant second (I'd imagine) is something like all caps if italics is not available.

 

[sr71plt]

One peculiarity of the internet is that readers and users can set their own font, size of type and appearance of text on screen. Unlike books published in hard copy that are designed and printed in one style that is fixed on the page, the screen display of stories on a computer can be as flexible as the reader wants them to be.

Oh? Doesn't Literotica use only one font and one font size? I've never seen a variation in a Literotica story posting.

 

[oggbashan]

Oh? Doesn't Literotica use only one font and one font size? I've never seen a variation in a Literotica story posting.

That's true, but many people download from Lit to read later.

When they do, font and tags can change.

When I find my stolen stories, the file is sometimes corrupted.

 

[Ysoi]

Someone has lost the plot. :|

And you miss the point on writing for publication (with Literotica being a form of publication). Writing for publication isn't about meeting every possible reader's personal preferences. So your question is pretty silly from the get go.

So, unable to admit that you misread my question and having already made a personal attack on my qualifications as a writer having never seen any of my work - though I'm not disputing that you might be right - you now decide to make a blanket statement about the motives of everyone who submits an article to literotica and call the question itself silly.

Congratulations.

Regardless of why you might submit articles to Literotica, I do so purely for the enjoyment of those who might attempt to read the stuff I write - and if changing the way I format emphasised words affects their enjoyment, I will change that as well.

Ysoi

 

[Ysoi]

Oh? Doesn't Literotica use only one font and one font size? I've never seen a variation in a Literotica story posting.

For accessibility and aesthetic reasons people might choose to tell their browser to use their own fonts / colours / sizes. Whilst I do so only for link colours, I know of people who have set a dull grey to be the default background purely because they don't like black text on a too-bright white background. (Bear in mind that paper doesn't glow, unlike most people's screen of choice.)

Ysoi

 

[Ysoi]

Thanks for the reasoned response, Oggbashan!

While it is interesting to discuss how to emphasise in stories posted on Literotica, that story could be downloaded and appear in a different format. Will all your carefully considered tags remain?

If we imagine that you have written something where you are :

(a) Unable to change the words without breaking character.

(b) Already found what you consider to be the optimal words for what you are trying to say.

(c) Still believe that you require further emphasis for whatever reason.

I would take this as an argument for ALL CAPS, Initial Caps or _underlining_.
Do you use one of those, or something else?

You can choose your own way. The real test is whether what I do, or what you do, works for the reader whatever device or display settings are used.

And how do you determine what works for the reader?

Do you quote a manual written, I am guessing, for printed publications, and state that that is the be all and end all of the matter; or do you write a poll asking those readers which method they prefer? Despite the heat I'm getting from a certain forum member, I think you can probably guess why I posted a poll.

Ysoi