Comments on: Poll: underlining or italics? Also a typeface survey….

By: Mela

Mela — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:32:13 +0000

Georgia and italics

By: Criss

Criss — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:30:14 +0000

I tend to over-italicize, so when I'm writing fiction (where my YA characters tend to emphasize the key words they're saying to make sure the point gets across clearly) I prefer to underline because, as a fellow writer pointed out to me, you can see underlining more clearly (glaringly) than italicizing, so it's easier to see how much you have (over) used it.

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:20:12 +0000

Oh, and I’m amazed that the number of people who like Courier. I find it (sorry) ugly and would rather read text in something more “bookish”, like Garamond or even Times New Roman for printed materials. I like something sans serif, like Verdana, for on-screen reading.

As above, though, whatever an editor wants, an editor gets.

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:13:14 +0000

I understood that underlining was used because typewriters couldn’t do italics, which lead me to believe that since italics are available now we should go ahead and use them.

I dislike underlining for large portions of text because it makes it difficult to read (see comment above). On-screen I always think I’m going to be able to click something that’s underlined and I have this frowny second or two if I come across good old-fashioned underlining-for-its-own-sake.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:22:00 +0000

Notwithstanding the caveat that others have pointed our re: submission guidelines, I use italics. Underlining is for when italics are not available. If you’re on a computer, they’re generally available. Underlining on a computer is generally only good for when they’re called for in submissions guidelines, or for a retro typewriter look.

Furthermore, underlining obscures the descenders on letters and slightly decreases readability, making a “g” look like an “a” or “o” and a “y” look like a “v”. That’s one of the reasons why there’s been a trend away from using underlining for web page links.

By: Kayla

Kayla — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:52:57 +0000

I was talking with an editor once and he brought up italics vs. underlining. He said the reason there was a rule about underlining is because when things were being written on a typwriter, there wasn’t the option to hit the italics key. You had to underline to indicate where you wanted italics.

I personally use italics just because I was never told anything else.

By: David de Beer

David de Beer — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:54:43 +0000

To affirm what’s been said already — follow the submission guidelines, if they want it underlined, I underline.

Having said that, if given a choice, I italicize. What I’ve noticed is that email submissions most often you can italicize, but print submissions want them underlined. My standard format nowadays:

courier. 12 point. double space. indent first line of paragraph.

it’s gotten to the point when even if I’m reading someone else’s story or article on my PC, I reformat them as indicated above. Just more comfortable for me.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:50:25 +0000

I italicize my titles, but I could see where both underlining and italicize would be helpful because just italics are easy to miss.

A question for you Debbie: What style book do you use for your magazine writing?

By: Jenna

Jenna — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:40:45 +0000

I usually just italicize instead of underlining. It looks better to me. I usually use ten point times new roman because I print each weekend’s work so I can work on it during the week, and 10 pt TNR takes up less paper…
When I actually start submitting, I’ll go with whatever is requested.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:28:53 +0000

I generally use Times New Roman size 12 and italics.