In On Writing, Stephen King explains what writing is.
Telepathy, of course. It’s amusing when you stop it think about it—for years people have argued about whether or not such a thing exists . . . and all the time it’s been right there, lying out in the open like Mr. Poe’s Purloined Letter. All the arts depend upon telepathy to some degree, but I believe that writing offers the purest distillation.
“Deft, generous, wise and insightful, Roy Jacobsen’s experience-based blog is one of the best bangs for the click that any writer will find on the Internet.”—Arthur Plotnik
“Writing – Clear and Simple proves that it doesn’t take a professional to write clearly and with impact.” —Top 100 Blogs to Improve Your Writing in 2010
One of “The Top 30 Blogs on Writing” according to the Delaware Employment Law Blog.
"Your website rocks!"—William Van Benschoten
Pingback: Writing is a pipeline for ideas | Writing, Clear and Simple
Hi, I do write sci-fi using telepathic characters, and my critique group members passionately argue over whether to use italics or not for mental dialog between two or more people. I’ve seen highly successful authors use either form. One friend insists I follow the rules of Henry Shaw, but he is not a telepath
But what method is most acceptable in sci-fi/fantasy novels and why? I’d like some opinions or sources of info, please.
Thanks very much^
Lady Teleri,
Thank you for your query, which has intrigued me enough to inspire its own post. Stay tuned.
Woohoo!
Happy Holidaze
It’s important that we do research and stick to our guns as far as personal style goes. I have a few people in critique groups that virtually demand telepathic communication must be written one way, i.e., with quotes and italics, even though the concept does not even exist to us. We have yet to evolve as telepathic creatures, so who has the right to force a rule upon how it should be written? Ann McCaffrey’s the Rowan series are one example, and I do believe Voldermort yelled at everyone using telepathy without quotes.