A Character's Thoughts

As a writer, don't you love the little posers a proofreader or editor tosses your way - like a pebble, it hits your mind and then the ripples start, on and on and on....

So the latest for Catalina - it's getting closer but now time drags on - is about the use of quotation marks for my character's thoughts - or whether their thoughts are simply italicised. I went against the italics idea - just found it too distracting when I was writing the novel.

So my method was really - quote the thoughts directly stated as thoughts -  'I must escape,' thought Catalina - but not the thoughts directly embedded into the text - I must escape.

I am happy with it but the proofreader wants consistency. Its very consistent in my head but now the arguments start back and forth - luckily my editor is very happy with the novel and is agreeable with whatever I decide.

Its funny, 'cos this is the stuff you don't think about when you start out writing the novel but this is what it boils down to - and rightly so - muck this up and the reader tosses the book aside after page 8 (or earlier), I should know - I have discarded probably as many books and I have read.

Still the things I gleaned from writing The Tree Singer  made Catalina easier - and writing my next novel I find the things I have learned writing (and editing) Catalina are making it easier - of course that just means with the next edit/proof read,  a whole new set of stones get tossed!