Internal Dialogue: Italics or Quotes?
Internal dialogue is used by authors to indicate what a character is thinking to himself/herself.
Direct internal dialogue refers to a character thinking the exact thoughts as written, often in the first person (I).
Example: “I lied,” Charles thought, “but maybe she will forgive me.”
Notice that quotation marks and other punctuation are used in the same way as if the character had spoken aloud.
You may also use italics without quotation marks for direct internal dialogue.
Example: I lied, Charles thought, but maybe she will forgive me.
Indirect internal dialogue refers to a character expressing a thought in third person and is not set off with either italics or quotation marks.
Example: Bev wondered why Charles would think that she would forgive him so easily.
The words she would tell us that she did not think these exact words.