Useless Discussion: Bold vs. Italics

[awanderingbard]

I noticed as I was writing the other day that I tend to use both italics and bold for emphasis in my stories and I never stop to question which one to use at a certain moment, I just know which one I want. Which made me wonder how other people show their emphasis and in what cases they would use italics over bold or vice versa. This is the sort of thing I come up with when I'm lying in bed with a persistent migraine, people.



My own personal usage, once I stopped to think about it, goes like this:

Italics
Italics are what I use most often for emphasis, usually if something is said with sarcasm or an overly dramatic tone. I also use italics to indicate a foreign language (Madre de dios), or, less often, someone speaking a foreign language but it being transcribed in English (Mother of God, he muttered, in Spanish). If someone is having a stream of consciousness dialogue in their head (talking to themselves), I tend to use italics as well, or if they are quoting someone or something. I use it for onomatopoeia (ribbit, ribbit) and for personification (drip, drip, said the tap.)

Bold
Bold tends to indicate someone being surprised or shocked. (Jesus Christ!, You have got to be kidding me!). I also use it when someone is angry (That is not my fault!) or being self-deprecating. Less often, I use it for sound effects.

So, if you care to weigh in, how do you use your emphasis devices, mes amis?

Comments

[joonscribble.livejournal.com]

I tend to use italics much in the same way you do. Usually to indicate sarcasm in the case of my fics.

Funnily enough, I don't think I've ever used bold in my stories. Usually for shock, surprise or angry exclamations, I tend to use the all caps option. "You have GOT to be kidding me?"

[tigerkat24.livejournal.com]

Same here. I think I always felt that bold was unusually aggressive and I didn't like aggression. Oddly enough, I've never seen anyone use bold for more than one or two words in a row. Italics seem to be the emphasis of choice for that. Perhaps because italics are easier on the eyes, or look a little more graceful?

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

That's interesting. I think all caps are aggressive, because they denote yelling and I don't like it when people yell. Generally, my characters are only ever written as yelling when they are really at the end of their rope. Harry, for example, yells a lot in Somnus because he's so tired all the time.

I agree, I don't often see bold being used for more than a couple of words in a row. Maybe because it draws the eye too much to that phrase? Like, if you saw a whole section in bold, that's where you would likely read first, I think.