I've evolved into a style of using italics rather than quotation marks for texts. I'm waffling, though, on how to punctuate the attribution before/after it. Even though for an italicized thought, I want to use a comma, just like dialogue, it feels odd for a text. Some examples:
She said, "Like that will happen."
She thought, Like that will happen.
She texted like that will happen lol
At least, that's my current impulse for how to handle it. Any thoughts/suggestions?
(Examples edited)
Remember that italics doesn't show in the text format (.txt). Without the quotes there's no punctuation to mark thoughts or conversation for readers using that format.
Hrm. A point. Are there any stats on how commonly that's used? (I'm biased towards assuming minimal html, given the site is accessed as web pages.)
In one of the recent threads there was a reader who mentioned that he always downloads the txt version. Maybe Lazeez knows how much it is used but even if it's just a few you might want to reconsider, since a plain text format is the most basic format for long term 'survival'.
Are there any stats on how commonly that's used?
I quite often use it if I am downloading a story for the purpose of listening to on a long drive with a text to speech program.
That tends to give me the cleanest reading, as none of the extra things are ever read properly. Some programs actually SAY things like "italics" or "underscore", which I find highly annoying.
I use a tts app a lot also, but not on long drives since I don't do many anymore. Mowing the yard, chores around the house, walking, or just sitting on the porch. Love it.
What app do you use? I currently using Voice Aloud Reader on an Android device, and it seems to do a good job with epub formats. Really nice to be able to download an entire book in that format from SOL and have it read. For Kindle books, have to copy and paste in chunks, and that runs into DRM issues with many books.
For Kindle books, have to copy and paste in chunks, and that runs into DRM issues with many books.
Calibre is your friend:
https://echoshare.co/remove-drm-from-kindle-books/
Remember that italics doesn't show in the text format (.txt).
The .txt archive creator converts < i> and < em> tags to underscores, and it converts < b> and < strong> tags to asterisks.
The .txt archive creator converts < i> and < em> tags to underscores, and it converts < b> and < strong> tags to asterisks.
I didn't know that because I always use the html format, a fine solution for the text format readers.
She texted like that will happen
I'd put the comma in. It sets the text off just like it does the dialogue or thought.
Or maybe a colon.
I've recently been experimenting with quoting inline text messages with square brackets, and switching fonts to either Courier or Arial/Helvetica, depending on the story setting.
So, I can't do the font switch properly here, but:
She texted, [like that will happen].
I'm not sure I'm fond enough of that to stick with it — I've already changed how I do it a couple of times — but what I actually write is:
She texted, < q class="text" >like that will happen< /q >
(except without the extraneous spaces)
And I have an external CSS file that defines how q.text, among many other things, is formatted, so if I decide to change how I do it, it's just tinkering with the one CSS file.
I don't like the italics without comma or initial capitalization, because it's not immediately clear that they're not just italics for emphasis. I mean:
She texted like a boss.
Am I being emphatic that she's amazing at texting, or is "like a boss" the text she sent?
I don't like it without initial cap or punctuation, either, and since some characters (like some people) don't ever use capitals, no punctuation is a problem. Hmm.
Thanks for helping me talk this through.
initial capitalization
It should be how the person texted it. Just like bad grammar is fine in dialogue if the character speaks bad grammar, anything goes in texting (based on the character).
Yeah, thus the need for some kind of punctuation to set it off. Just the italics would work if italics weren't already so overloaded, but they are, so.
For what it's worth, I prefer the conventional double-quoted version (with the comma), and all lower case if that was the literal text (aka Short Message). E.g.
She texted, "like that will happen LOL".
