A Dialogue Question - Writers Forum

ReikiMeg · 03-06-2006, 06:00 PM

This is a situation that I’ve been pondering for the past couple days. What is the proper way to write dialogue when the character is putting emphasis on a certain word or two in their speech? Do you put it in caps or do you make note of it afterwards? Any suggestions?

Meghan

mammamaia · 03-06-2006, 06:21 PM

caps are never a good option, imo... italics would be the way to do it, but keep in mind that you don't use the actual italics in your ms... instead, you underline the word/s you want to be italicized and the printer will convert them later... may seem silly, but it's a fairly rigid rule of the industry...

as for your second option, i can't see how or why you would 'make a note of it afterwards'... maybe i'm not understanding what you meant?

hope this helps... fyi, when wondering about such things, you could check the work of some of the best-selling writers to see how they do it...

love and hugs, maia

AshBeanNun · 03-06-2006, 06:47 PM

If it's needed, I usually use italics. You're the judge of whether it's needed or not--most of the time, if you write the dialogue well, an explanation, or extra emphasis, won't be needed.

But then again I don't know what the text is coming from, and please excuse me if that last bit was unecessary.

ReikiMeg · 03-06-2006, 07:55 PM

Sorry Mamma. Bad choice of words. By "note" I mean that I 've seen writers use terms such as "emphasis on the latter" and for the life of me I can't think of another example. It's not a note, but a way to bring attention to it.

I thought caps would be too "in your face" but I've been wrong before.

Not sure I've seen italics used before.

awford · 03-06-2006, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mammamaia

italics would be the way to do it, but keep in mind that you don't use the actual italics in your ms... instead, you underline the word/s you want to be italicized and the printer will convert them later... may seem silly, but it's a fairly rigid rule of the industry...

Nice to know Mamma, thanks. I'm wondering now how many other "rigid rules of industry" those of us in the uninitiated category should be aware of, though. Any good references you can recommend?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mammamaia

as for your second option, i can't see how or why you would 'make a note of it afterwards'... maybe i'm not understanding what you meant?

EXAMPLE:
"You did what?" Johnny's emphasis on the last word was so gutteral that Mary's desire to flee became a near necessity.

Of course, for me this brings up another dialog puctuation question, which is the combined use of both question mark and exclamation point. Is it ever good style or grammer to do so? I've seen some sentences written like:

"You did what!?" Johnny's emphasis on the last word was so gutteral that Mary's desire to flee became a near necessity.

That has always seemed like an over-usage of punctuation to me, but at the same time it leaves no doubts what the author was shooting for. Whats the take on that?

Titania · 03-06-2006, 08:56 PM

I think "?!" is called an interrobang... not sure how widely accepted it is, though, as ms word tends to green-underline it.

awford · 03-06-2006, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Titania

I think "?!" is called an interrobang... not sure how widely accepted it is, though, as ms word tends to green-underline it.

interrobang - LOL - You just gotta like a word like that, no matter what it means!

Talia_Brie · 03-07-2006, 03:52 AM

I agree that italics is the best way to infer some emphasis. CAPS are not a real option as far as I can tell.

I disagree that you should be underlining the words you want in italics. That seems like a throwback to the days of typewriters and gas lanterns. If you want a word in italics, use italics. I'm sure a publisher will be able to interpret it. I mean, what do you do if you want a word underlined? Bold it? It just doesn't make sense to me. Technology is there for a reason, don't be afraid to embrace it.

mammamaia · 03-07-2006, 05:58 PM

Quote:

I'm wondering now how many other "rigid rules of industry" those of us in the uninitiated category should be aware of, though. Any good references you can recommend?

...i have a good format guide i'll be glad to forward, if you email me at: maia3maia@hotmail.com...

Quote:

EXAMPLE:
"You did what?" Johnny's emphasis on the last word was so gutteral that Mary's desire to flee became a near necessity.

...ah, so!... in that example, the emphasized word still should be italicized... we need to read dialog as it would be 'heard'... telling us how it sounded after we've already 'heard' it differently, is too late and doesn't really work...

Quote:

Of course, for me this brings up another dialog puctuation question, which is the combined use of both question mark and exclamation point. Is it ever good style or grammer to do so? I've seen some sentences written like:

"You did what!?" Johnny's emphasis on the last word was so gutteral that Mary's desire to flee became a near necessity. That has always seemed like an over-usage of punctuation to me, but at the same time it leaves no doubts what the author was shooting for. Whats the take on that?

...although i use such myself in private writings, it's really not correct usage and most editors will pare it down to the most relevant one of the two...

Quote:

I disagree that you should be underlining the words you want in italics. That seems like a throwback to the days of typewriters and gas lanterns. If you want a word in italics, use italics. I'm sure a publisher will be able to interpret it. I mean, what do you do if you want a word underlined? Bold it? It just doesn't make sense to me. Technology is there for a reason, don't be afraid to embrace it.

...there really is good reason for this practice being continued, despite technology's advances... in some fonts, italics don't appear different enough from normal type, to be easily noticed and most editors still prefer to have emphasized words underlined, so when scanning quickly, they won't miss 'em... and the printers still insist on it, because they don't want to have to hunt for all the words they are expected to set in different type...

...as for using underlining as underlining, i don't know why one would...

Superlagg · 03-07-2006, 07:16 PM

Would caps be useful if the character raises their voice mid-sentence? A few of my characters sometimes go from regular speaking voice to a more shouty tone mid-sentence.

Talia_Brie · 03-07-2006, 08:10 PM

Quote:

...as for using underlining as underlining, i don't know why one would...

If you write anything that refers to a title of a completed work it needs to be underlined. That's why someone would.

But ok,. Some fonts don't have italics different enough. Well, that clears everything up, doesn't it.

Ejp414 · 03-07-2006, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Talia_Brie

If you write anything that refers to a title of a completed work it needs to be underlined. That's why someone would.

But ok,. Some fonts don't have italics different enough. Well, that clears everything up, doesn't it.

You only underline certain titles if all other forms of emphasis are also underlined. Use either underline or italics—all the way through—not both.

mammamaia · 03-08-2006, 05:45 PM

Quote:

If you write anything that refers to a title of a completed work it needs to be underlined. That's why someone would.

in fiction, you wouldn't be underlining titles... in non-fiction [articles and such], as ejp notes, you could use underline for emphasis and titles, if that's what the editor's guidelines call for... and, in many instances, titles would be enclosed in quotes, not underlined...

glennstewart · 03-09-2006, 03:15 PM

italics are the correct form of emphasis, but should be used sparingly, as the example two above me shows, too many will contaminate the narrative:

"...there really is good reason for this practice being continued, despite technology's advances... in some fonts, italics don't appear different enough from normal type, to be easily noticed and most editors still prefer to have emphasized words underlined, so when scanning quickly, they won't miss 'em... and the printers still insist on it, because they don't want to have to hunt for all the words they are expected to set in different type..."

Talia_Brie · 03-09-2006, 11:25 PM

Quote:

... many instances, titles would be enclosed in quotes, not underlined...

To my understanding (it has been a while), you would use quotations for song titles, but not album titles; articles or chapters that are contained in a book, but not the book title.

Yeah, it's been a while. *scratches head* I used to be an MLA guru, but not any longer I'm afraid.