writing a character's thoughts

[flwrchld]

When a character is thinking to themselves, especially an internal dialog, how should this be written? I'm not comfortable continuously writing, "she thinks to herself," or "running through her head," because one character in particular always seems to have a lot of internal dialog. Also, should there be quotation marks around those thoughts - I don't like that either because that seems to indicate the person is talking. At this point I've been using italics to indicate the character's thought process. Any help here would be appreciated.

[J.T. Adams]

. . . this works for me, I thought.

[sam peebles]

I don't think there's any concrete rule here, it's up to the author. You can use italics, or not. Quotation marks are rare, and I'd avoid them so as not to confuse a reader, but I do believe I've seen them used for internal monologues.

[flwrchld]

Thanks for the input, as this is really driving me crazy. The whole project is turning out to be quite an experience. I thought I wrote well until I actually started; now I'm beginning to question my intelligence.

[fushingfeef]

Also, in general I think it's a good idea to show what the character is thinking rather than explicitly say what the character is thinking. For example, it's better to say "She bit her nails, something she always did when she was worried." than "She thought, 'I am worried'" or "She was worried.

[flwrchld]

This is an example of the internal dialog/dialogue that I'm fighting with:

Mandi's first thought was how embarrassed she was and that became immediately replaced with fear... I'm going to be grounded forever for that stunt. Why did I let him stay so late? What was I thinking? First date and now Dad will hate him forever. Way to go ole girl. Crap!

[fushingfeef]

It's not bad, but if you don't like it, how about conveying the meaning but removing the thought dialog:

Mandi's feelings of embarrassment quickly changed to fear. She would probably be grounded forever for that stunt. Why did she let him stay so late? What was she thinking? It was only the first date and now her father would hate him forever.

"Nice going," she muttered to herself under her breath.

[flwrchld]

Great job there FF! I think I'm putting too much thought into how to write this instead of just writing it. It's like I'm trying to edit along the way which is causing road-blocks. I've never written or even attempted to write a story before, but this one has been screaming to get out of my head and onto paper for a few years now. On top of that I have had 5 different people in the last two weeks just up and suggest that I should try writing a novel. It's as if I'm walking around with a neon sign that says, "tell her to write," suspended over my head. Writing isn't even the topic of conversation when this happens which has made me think that the time is right.

Thank you again for your editing which gives me a different view to my obstacle.

[GNTLGNT]

I've always seen "thoughts" expressed in italics...even Uncle Stevie does it!.....

[dsurrett]

I'm in an online writing group and I've been told not to put thoughts in italics, but I've seen some writers do it. From my observations in currently reading "Under the Dome," SK does it some, but not very often, which is probably a good rule. Good question.
Browse through a couple novels in the genres you like to read and see what the authors do.
From your example above, it could be changed to ...
She'd be grounded forever for that stunt. Why did she let him stay so late? What had she been thinking? First date and her dad would hate him forever.
Way to go ole girl. Crap!