Emphasis is when one places stress on a word, marking its importance.
Now, when we emphasise something, we want to make sure that we attach importance to the word. We want it to be read differently. Many writers can do this in many different ways, in many different lieus. We have italics, bold, and CAPITALISATION. There also exists some weirder ways, such as *asterisks*, ::colons::, and <i>HTML</i> coding.
In the setting of writing a story, however, which one is correct? Which one is the best? I suppose it depends on whom you ask. However, nobody, absolutely nobody, will tell you the last three I listed. So, that narrows it down to three choices: italics, boldface, and CAPITAL letters.
I'm rather certain most writers prefer italics, as do I. However, it's not a sin to use another one. Once you've chosen your preference, though, be consistent. If, on page one, you're using boldface, don't switch to CAPITALS on page twenty. Frankly, that's unprofessional. Very seldom, I will see both CAPITALS and italics, but that is only in the case that italics was the original mode for emphasis and additional emphasis was necessary.
Be careful so that you don't overkill. Scan this article. Do you see how many times I emphasised things in a variety of ways? I counted about fourteen. That's far too much. How many times should I have used it? Perhaps one or two. When putting your chosen mode of stress on a word, just remember to think, "Is this necessary to emphasise?"
Is this really, really, *REALLY* necessary to emphasise?
YOU ARE READING
Helpful Procrastination
Non-FictionPerhaps writing this book is procrastination in itself. But, at least, in doing so, I can help you. In this book, I'll be giving writing advice. No 5-page entries, just my advice in its most concise, blunt form. Enjoy.
