Style Question

[ElectricBlue]

Always need to close your tags, yes. But my point there was that if you have several lines of italicised text, rather than just opening at the beginning and closing at the end of that passage, it's better to do it for every paragraph. Otherwise, there's a risk of Lit inserting a page break between your opener and closer, which will break things.

Absolutely. This happened to me once. The entire second page flipped to italics - one of the few times I submitted an edit, straightaway.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Think about the pronunciation when it's broken into syllables.

Mooo theer - probably not the effect you're after.

Maybe designate by action -

"Mother!" She rolled her eyes. "How could you?"

But people aren't pronouncing it, it is a commonly used convention that an adult reader would understand.

 

[ElectricBlue]

But people aren't pronouncing it, it is a commonly used convention that an adult reader would understand.

I'm not sure that it's that common. I've been reading for a very long time, and I'd say I've seen "Moootheer" about... once, up above.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I'm not sure that it's that common. I've been reading for a very long time, and I'd say I've seen "Moootheer" about... once, up above.

Maybe not that precise usage, but adult readers understand the concept of using repeated letters to indicate the elongation of a spoken word.
When a reader sees, "nooooooooo!"
they aren't wondering if they should pronounce it with a long or short O.
They could surely figure out from the context of the story what the author's intent is.

 

[ElectricBlue]

They could surely figure out from the context of the story what the author's intent is.

The writer was uncertain and sought advice. If you read the thread responses, you won't find many people supporting extended woooooords.

It's a sign of an amateur writer, I think (which we nearly all are), but there are more sophisticated ways of getting the intent across, that don't look silly on the page.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

The writer was uncertain and sought advice. If you read the thread responses, you won't find many people supporting extended woooooords.

It's a sign of an amateur writer, I think (which we nearly all are), but there are more sophisticated ways of getting the intent across, that don't look silly on the page.

He sought advice, and I'm providing it. Don't take it personally because mine differs from yours.
You are changing your argument. You began with "people won't know how to pronounce it" which is silly on its face, and are now trying to dismiss it as "amateurish" which is nothing more than your opinion.
All that matters is if his words effectively convey his ideas.