Italicizing Can Be Mesmerizing
By Michael Heath / selfpublishingUS.com
Maybe “mesmerizing” is a little bit too strong of a word, but italics are designed to grab the reader’s attention. Before the advent of computers, underlining a word did the same thing. I only mention this as you would never want to do both, i.e., underline and italicize a word. Italicizing is often used to specify certain creative works such as book titles, magazines, movies, TV shows, musical compositions and even software programs. Other ways they are employed:
To emphasize a word in a sentence
To highlight names of ships, aircraft, spacecraft, and trains
To specify a foreign word used in a sentence
To specify scientific names
To differentiate between inner monologue and dialogue
Italics should be used sparingly. Overuse of this literary tool dilutes its effectiveness. One grammar rule that will interest authors: book titles are italicized but book series should get block lettering. I learned this the hard way and it is why I always use an editor, rather than look like an amateur.
To get your manuscript edited: https://www.selfpublishingus.com/bookediting.