Ask Jerry
current formation trends
Asked by Cheryl Coffman on June 4, 2020
When a M/C thinks to himself example: Henry thought, "I know I can do this if I just put my mind to it." Or should his thoughts be in italics?
I have seen the italics in print in the past few years.
Jerry's Answer
Italics for thoughts is falling out of favor, Cheryl, and though I'm not happy about that--because I think it makes things crystal clear--it is a reality we must acknowledge. And quoting thoughts would be wrong too.
So the answer is to carefully select the words, give them their own paragraph, and make sure they're in first person present tense.
I sure hope I'm making sense to Cheryl right now.
See what I did there? :)