Internal Dialogue

Orion101

Hello,

How do you punctuate internal dialogue? Take this line:

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Most of it is cosmetic, I told myself, hoping it was the truth. [/FONT]

I suspect you don't use inverted commas, but can someone confirm?

Thanks!

bigsmokewriting

Typically you wouldn't use inverted commas; sometimes italics are used. It often depends on the publisher's house style - there's no hard and fast rule.

EileenG

Only use inverted commas for speech that is spoken aloud.

Normally, you don't need to do anything special for internal dialogue. Just write it as the character thinks it and the reader will understand. You generally don't need to use "He thought to himself" or anything like that either.

Orion101

Thanks both!

Antilles

I just drop into a different register so that the reader infers that its the character's thoughts.

The zombie lurches into the clearing and snarled. Jane turned, her heart still pounding from the chase. God damn, he was an ugly bastard. She lifted the rifle and took aim. Head shot.

DublinWriter

Italics are mostly used to denote internal dialogue, usually when it is it's own sentence and not part of the regular narrative.

Your example is fine as it stands.

Orion101 wrote: »

Hello,

How do you punctuate internal dialogue? Take this line:

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Most of it is cosmetic, I told myself, hoping it was the truth. [/FONT]

I suspect you don't use inverted commas, but can someone confirm?

Thanks!

pops

As a reader I find italics to denote internal dialogue very annoying. If it's well written then the reader will be able to understand which is the internal dialogue and which is the narration.

EileenG

I agree. I know a couple of authors who do this, and I alway feel they are shouting at me "THIS IS WHAT I AM THINKING". I suspect that submitting an MS with a lot of internal dialogue in italics would be the kiss of death.