Italics are the Crutch of a Puny Mind
Posted by Andie Ryan Blog at 8/14/2010 10:42 PM 
Categories: Editing Notes
Tags: eBook SHAKEDOWN Kindle writing device italics writing technique formatting
Categories: Editing Notes
Tags: eBook SHAKEDOWN Kindle writing device italics writing technique formatting
Mine, to be precise.
So here I am, formatting the SHAKEDOWN manuscript for the Kindle, trying to decipher the cover art specs, adding back some of the formatting that was lost in converting the design file back to Word.
Formalizing paragraph formatting? No big deal.
Redoing the fonts and spacing for chapter headings? Not a problem.
But re-italicizing the de-italicized words? Major pain in the butt.
Okay, some usage is legitimate -- italicizing the names of actual newspapers, for example, or foreign words and phrases.
But as I navigated through the remaining, oh, I don't know, 295 occurrences, I began to ask myself, "What on Earth were you thinking?"
Did I stop paying attention?
Did I stop noticing that they were even there?
Did I not consider that about 290 of these occurrences were completely unnecessary?
After correcting about 25 of them, they began to seem like words or phrases that were capitalized or underlined for emphasis. They might as well have been in 48 point font the way they screamed at me from the virtual page.
What did I think I was doing, directing an actor in a movie?
It's a good lesson, this eBook conversion business, if for no other reason than to remind me that, when a writer relies on italics or similar formatting to do the work that the words are supposed to do, that writer should hear whooping warning bells.
I started mentally editing the sentences I was correcting, making other word choices that would have more effectively conveyed emotion or sentiment without using italics. And guess what? Most choices were better, and the de-italicized dialogue more effectively conveyed the character who was speaking.
And when the words were fine the way they were originally written, losing the italics made no difference, and actually seemed to convey greater emphasis through their absence. Anyone out there still underlining for emphasis? Same issue. When you see them, it's a shout out that your word choices probably need to be different.
I resisted the temptation to make any editorial changes for the eBook edition, although I did remove an extra space between two words that shouldn't have been there. I left the italics as they were, my puniness preserved. If the final eBook conversion doesn't respect the fact that the italics are there and removes them, no harm done. I doubt that readers will miss them.
I am vowing, however, not to use this "technique" -- and I use the term loosely -- in the new novel.
So if you have a manuscript out there, go scan it for your own formatting crutches with a fresh eye. You, and your readers, will be very glad you did.
So here I am, formatting the SHAKEDOWN manuscript for the Kindle, trying to decipher the cover art specs, adding back some of the formatting that was lost in converting the design file back to Word.
Formalizing paragraph formatting? No big deal.
Redoing the fonts and spacing for chapter headings? Not a problem.
But re-italicizing the de-italicized words? Major pain in the butt.
Okay, some usage is legitimate -- italicizing the names of actual newspapers, for example, or foreign words and phrases.
But as I navigated through the remaining, oh, I don't know, 295 occurrences, I began to ask myself, "What on Earth were you thinking?"
Did I stop paying attention?
Did I stop noticing that they were even there?
Did I not consider that about 290 of these occurrences were completely unnecessary?
After correcting about 25 of them, they began to seem like words or phrases that were capitalized or underlined for emphasis. They might as well have been in 48 point font the way they screamed at me from the virtual page.
What did I think I was doing, directing an actor in a movie?
It's a good lesson, this eBook conversion business, if for no other reason than to remind me that, when a writer relies on italics or similar formatting to do the work that the words are supposed to do, that writer should hear whooping warning bells.
I started mentally editing the sentences I was correcting, making other word choices that would have more effectively conveyed emotion or sentiment without using italics. And guess what? Most choices were better, and the de-italicized dialogue more effectively conveyed the character who was speaking.
And when the words were fine the way they were originally written, losing the italics made no difference, and actually seemed to convey greater emphasis through their absence. Anyone out there still underlining for emphasis? Same issue. When you see them, it's a shout out that your word choices probably need to be different.
I resisted the temptation to make any editorial changes for the eBook edition, although I did remove an extra space between two words that shouldn't have been there. I left the italics as they were, my puniness preserved. If the final eBook conversion doesn't respect the fact that the italics are there and removes them, no harm done. I doubt that readers will miss them.
I am vowing, however, not to use this "technique" -- and I use the term loosely -- in the new novel.
So if you have a manuscript out there, go scan it for your own formatting crutches with a fresh eye. You, and your readers, will be very glad you did.
That's so true. As a copy editor, I have been ruthless with authors who overuse italics. The ringing (in moderation) of a bell can be a beautiful sound. Rung in excess, it quickly becomes a nuisance to all. The same is true of italicized words.
And here's one more thought. While foreign words and phrases are properly italicized, if Webster's has decided that a word or phrase has passed into common American English usage, its initial listing in the dictionary will be in roman letters. (See "qua" and "quid pro quo," as examples, as compared to "vers libre" [free verse], which is always in italics.) Look up every "foreign" word you are tempted to italicize and follow Webster's usage. You may be surprised at how much italicization this will eliminate.
Bravo (in roman letters)!
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