The moral of the story: Don't be Hemingway.
hits the floor laughing
And what's the fun in becoming an immortal demon if you're not regular, am I right?
The Mayor ,'End of Days'
The Great Write Way, Chapter Two: Twice upon a time...
A place for Buffistas to discuss, beta and otherwise deal and dish on their non-fan fiction projects.
deborah grabien - May 27, 2006 8:51:04 am PDT #6802 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
SailAweigh - May 27, 2006 8:51:21 am PDT #6803 of 10001
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
I'll be more specific, Deb. Erin was worried, I should have directed that straight to her. I never thought you thought she would have a problem.
Erin, don't worry! You're dialogue is great! I loved the banter with Mr. Inscrutable and her adding emphasis to it with the pointy shoes of retribution.
Strix - May 27, 2006 8:53:08 am PDT #6804 of 10001
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
and, insent, Sail. Excellent feedback, sugar.
Good info on the dialogue. Having read 8 gazillion books in my life, I too detest he said/gasped/declaimed villianously BWAHAHAHA, but sometime you need someonee else to kick your ass and say SHOW ME, moron!
But, yo, sometimes I just like to be slapped around.
And I am double-spaced and page numbered and editing out italica and vague word choices as we speak.
deborah grabien - May 27, 2006 8:54:42 am PDT #6805 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Heh. I am evil, in that I submit with italics. So far, no problem, but then, I've been with my publisher for years and they're used to it.
I hate underlining with a stone raging passion. Visually for me, it turns the manuscript into a homework assignment from the 1960s.
Strix - May 27, 2006 8:56:32 am PDT #6806 of 10001
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
I'm not cutting ALL italics, but Sail made some good calls re: overitalicsing.
SailAweigh - May 27, 2006 8:58:27 am PDT #6807 of 10001
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
Excellent feedback, sugar.
Thanks! ::wipes brow:: I was afraid you might think I was being too much of a hardass and wouldn't send me anymore to read. And that would have been a bad thing.
deborah grabien - May 27, 2006 8:58:30 am PDT #6808 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Erin, I need mine - I use them a lot in Haunted Ballads, to show where the voice being used is an excerpt from a manuscript or song snippet, or when one of the characters is hearing something supernatural.
If I had to underline all those, I'd run screaming; I'd find it unreadable.
But yep, if you're italicising as emphasis, that's a whole nother ball of wax.
Strix - May 27, 2006 9:04:15 am PDT #6809 of 10001
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
Oh, no, Sail. I don't want "Ohmigod, it was all great! Perfect! You are a goddess!"
Well, yeah, that's what I'd like, but not what I need, ya know?
Underlining? That what you do to book titles on a works cited page. Pffftt.
Topic!Cindy - May 27, 2006 9:05:15 am PDT #6810 of 10001
What is even happening?
But yep, if you're italicising as emphasis, that's a whole nother ball of wax.Yes. I use itals a lot online, because I think of posts as conversation.
In formal writing, italics-for-emphasis feel like another violation of the show-don't-tell rule. They're telling the reader where the word emphasis should be, when truly, word choice and arrangement are (I think) the better way to convey emphasis.
(Or maybe that's just me, but I don't think so.)
deborah grabien - May 27, 2006 9:11:41 am PDT #6811 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Heh. Cindy, I agree, but once in a while, I end up with a specific character who has a specific pattern of speech, and sometimes, the itals work. There was general agreement - especially from my editor, thank goodness - that the quirky emphasised speech was part of what made Charlotte Leight-Arnold so damned vivid.