Italics and Internal Monologue can be very confusing. I write in Deep POV, so for those who employ this technique, here are some hints that might help. If you’re writing in Deep POV, which many authors are today, remember that you’re in a character’s pov, so anything they think, feel, see or hear filters through their head and directly onto the page. Thus, if it doesn’t have quotation marks around it, it is internal and should not be in italics. The only time you need italics is when the character is remembering another voice in their head, or they are unable to voice the words they are speaking. For example if a person is remembering something their mother, their pastor, their friend, or even something they read, it is another […]
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Conversations: Adding Punch to your dialogue by creating Meaningful Action
“You look upset,” Sally said as she sat down on the deck. She wore a white shirt, her hair pulled back in a sixties’ style headband and a sleek summer tan. I sighed, stirring my frappucino. “I just had a difficult conversation with my son about his driving skills.” “Did you argue?” “No. And that’s the problem. He said everything right. It’s what he didn’t say that bothered me.” She frowned. “We were driving into town. He was riding beside me, his elbow out the window, when I broached the topic. I mentioned that we’d seen him driving in town recently a little too recklessly, and if he wanted to drive our cars he’d have to slow down.” “And?” “He said, ‘Sure, Mom. Whatever.’” “That doesn’t sound–” “He was scrolling […]
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Declaration of Independence Part One: The Liberation!
One if by land, two if by sea! The midnight ride of Paul Revere. “Give me liberty or give me death”. Old glory. You have a heritage of living free or die trying. For Americans, the soil beneath your feet was bought and paid for by the blood of your forefathers who fought and died for freedom. You have the inaliable right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That right is guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. So you want to be a writer? That’s illegal in some parts of the world, even in 2012. But not here. You can write to your heart’s content. You an peddle your story and publishers are free to put it out in print. In know writers sometimes get focused […]
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Learning from Pixar: Storytelling Rule #7
Recently Pixar’s 22 Storytelling Rules circulated on the Internet. Being as the Pixar gave us great movies like Toy Story and Cars, I figure they might know what they’re doing. Another fun tidbit, my office – the turret tower – was designed and built by a Pixar artist. Fun huh? I feel a bit of connection with Pixar because of it. I picked rule number seven to discuss today. Here it is: #7. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front. Most writers start out with an idea. We see the beginning. We have an idea of the inciting incident and how it might move toward the middle of the book, but rarely do we know the ending […]
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