2 Must-Know Rules for Using Italics and Exclamation Points for Emphasis

Excitement is certainly something you want to infuse your stories with. Passion and power, danger and delight—they all require exclamatory writing. But something writers often forget is that emphasis (whether it’s in the form of italics or punctuation) should be treated like salt: A little goes a long way.

How Not to Use Italics

One of my favorite books is a beautifully written tale of revenge and redemption. But its otherwise lyrical and thought-provoking prose is burdened by a ridiculous number of italics: at least one italicized word or phrase in every other paragraph.

Not only does this dilute the author’s emphasis, but in places it even reverses what the author intended as a serious conversation into one that borders on the comical.

How Not to Use Exclamation Points

In another book I read recently, the author cast exclamation points about with a careless abandon that often stripped her dialogue of its intended tone!

For example, in one passage, she reveals how she intends the dialogue to sound by telling the reader that “the softness of his voice, and the sir on the end, robbed it of offense.”

But then she contradicts herself by ending the speaker’s every sentence with a fiery exclamation point!

How to Properly Use Emphasis in Your Writing

Emphasis is a vital part of fiction, but it only works when it’s absolutely necessary. When in doubt, don’t use it. Every time you type an exclamation point or italicize a word, go back and change it. Read the sentence without the emphasis to decide if it’s really necessary. Nine times and out of ten, the sentence will flow with more subtlety and realism without the emphasis—which allows you to save your big guns for when your story really demands them.

Wordplayers, tell me your opinion! Do you ever find yourself overusing emphasis in your writing, such as exclamation points or italics? Tell me in the comments!