Quoting a character's thoughts
- Thread starter nitengale
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Weird Harold
Opinionated Old Fart
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nitengale said:
It's called internal dialogue, and is usually punctuated with Italics instead of quotation marks. I have seen internal dialogue punctuated with single quotes, and have seen a reference to a manual on style that says intenal dialogue doesn't require any distinguishing punctuation at all.
I recommend that you use Italics because of the potential for confusing your reader by not distinguishing internal dialogue from the narration.
Other than the Italics, everything that WhisperSecret has to say in her essay on making your character's speak in the how to category applies.
One pet peeve to mention: Please don't say "thought to himself" because it's redundant because unless your character is telepathic, there is no one else they can be thinking to.
Whispersecret
Clandestine Sex-pressionist
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I've heard different "rules" regarding internal dialogue (I.D.). I've never heard that using single quotes (') is appropriate.
Some people italicize all the thoughts AND label it:
I just hope he doesn't ask me to swallow, she thought.
I think that's redundant. If you italicize, you're already indicating that it's I.D.
Some skilled authors, like Orson Scott Card, just delve so deeply into the character's point of view, that the narrative flows in and out of the thoughts so seamlessly that he doesn't need to italicize OR mark it with a tag, such as "he thought."
Assuming you're not a masterful author (yet), I think you have two choices. You can italicize, OR mark the thoughts with an appropriate tag.
This is just what you deserve for throwing yourself at him like a slut.
OR
This is just what you deserve for throwing yourself at him like a slut, I thought.
Hope that helps.
Some people italicize all the thoughts AND label it:
I just hope he doesn't ask me to swallow, she thought.
I think that's redundant. If you italicize, you're already indicating that it's I.D.
Some skilled authors, like Orson Scott Card, just delve so deeply into the character's point of view, that the narrative flows in and out of the thoughts so seamlessly that he doesn't need to italicize OR mark it with a tag, such as "he thought."
Assuming you're not a masterful author (yet), I think you have two choices. You can italicize, OR mark the thoughts with an appropriate tag.
This is just what you deserve for throwing yourself at him like a slut.
OR
This is just what you deserve for throwing yourself at him like a slut, I thought.
Hope that helps.
Weird Harold
Opinionated Old Fart
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Whispersecret said:
It probably isn't "proper", but it is often used in formats where Italics aren't available.
