As a developmental editor, I often encourage using Italics as a way to enrich the content of your manuscript. It is often a good idea to italicize certain thoughts for several reasons, that work in the favour of having your book speak to the soul of a reader and assist in their imagination process.
The idea of Italicizing certain words originated in the 16th and 17th centuries where it was primarily used to distinguish proper names, places, and even foreign words. As literature became a vital part of our life, and its topics moved to being more social, and speak of daily struggles of the Common Man, the use of Italic fonts found a new purpose: highlighting thoughts, monologues, and later on separating flashbacks from events happening at the timeline set for the book.
As a romance books developmental editor , I often encourage balance in using typography — mostly to avoid tacky writing style that requires repetition, broken sentences or long ones, and in order to make the reader understand the hidden meanings, especially if we're talking about a certain emotion that must be emphasized.
However, I can name a few instances where the use of Italics had a negative effect. Notably, the times where the WRONG emotion is emphasized, or when the overuse of it all disrupts the imagination of a reader and forces them to reconsider and doubt what emotions they were feeling while reading..
You, as a writer, should also consider the image that you help create with overusing the typography incorrectly, primarily to it being considered a weak writing style if relied upon heavily.
In romance books, emotions are the essence, and to get the message across, you need to utilize the language as best as possible. Using Italics in your writing is a great idea if you're looking to:
Make an essential emotion or theme stand out in a specific chapter.
Utilize internal thoughts to carry out the character development or the story itself.
Make an intrusive thought in the middle of emotional chaos more apparent.
Comedic break in rom-coms.
My ultimate advice as a developmental editor that specializes in romance for authors— a debut or an experienced one, is to make use of the typography as best and as efficiently as possible.
Stay safe..
