Comments on: Internal Dialogue: Italics or Quotes?

By: Jane

Jane — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:56:06 +0000

In your first sentence, the word that indicates that it is not actual internal dialogue. I looked around this scene and thought that everyone was caught in a suspended reality…

If it was actual internal dialogue, the sentence would be written like this:
I looked around this scene and thought, “everyone was caught in a suspended reality…” OR
I looked around this scene and thought, everyone was caught in a suspended reality…

Your second and third sentences are both examples of internal dialogue since they are the exact thoughts of the character.
I thought, “how creepy.” OR I thought how creepy.
“My room was bare,” I thought. “I had always wondered what they said about me. Did I lack essence?” OR
My room was bare I thought. I had always wondered what they said about me. Did I lack essence?

If they were not internal dialogue they would be written like this:
I thought that it was creepy.
I thought that my room was bare. I had always wondered what they said about me. Did I lack essence?

By: bigsonny

bigsonny — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:39:33 +0000

So what if you’re writing from a 1st person POV. How do you distinguish between internal dialogue and simply giving an opinion.

For instance:

I looked around this scene and thought that everyone was caught in a suspended reality…

vs.

I thought “how creepy”

My room was bare. I had always wondered what they said about me. Did I lack essence?

How do I format each?

By: Jane

Jane — Sat, 21 May 2011 00:36:13 +0000

There seems to be quite a difference of opinion on this subject. According to The Chicago Manual of Style (13.41), “Thought, imagined dialogue, and other interior discourse may be enclosed in quotation marks or not, according to the context or the writer’s preference.” They do not even mention the use of italics. Also, AP Stylebook says, “So, is an unspoken thought always worthy of quotation marks? Writer’s choice on that.” I would not say that either one is more acceptable than the other.

By: Duncan

Duncan — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:38:18 +0000

I will concede either/or only insomuch that it may apply differently between MLA and novelization, but italics are still the acceptable form moreso than quotation marks, yes?

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:08:16 +0000

In the example you gave, you would not use italics or quotes. Other examples, also in a first person point-of-view, could use punctuation.

“I can’t believe he said that,” I thought. “What am I going to do now?”

I can’t believe he said that, I thought. What am I going to do now?

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 14:24:56 +0000

What about POV. In first person you would do neither, correct.

Ex: I can’t believe he said that. What am I going to do now?

By: Jane

Jane — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 04:38:46 +0000

You would leave the pronoun lowercased. What is that? she thought.

By: leah

leah — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:35:26 +0000

What if I’m using italics but not using a proper pronoun (with no obvious capitalization), and my thought ends in punctuation other than a comma? Do I leave the pronoun lowercased, as I would if it were in quotes? Or do I capitalize it?

For example, which would be correct (picture the thoughts in italics, if the HTML doesn’t process):

What is that? she thought.

What is that? She thought.

I can’t seem to find this type of example anywhere, and I’ve run into it several times with my historical fiction novel I’m writing! Thanks for your help!

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 22:55:35 +0000

Yes, dialogue will become present tense. No, you do not need to make a new paragraph when using internal dialogue.

By: delaney

delaney — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 20:39:26 +0000

what if you are telling the story and its past tense but then the internal dialoge becomes present tense of what you thought at that time? do you make a new paragragh everytime you use ihte internal dialoge as well?