To Italic or Not To Italic?

[Lafayette]

In a new fantasy story I'm writing I have two characters speaking to each other via crystal balls. To show the readers this do I italacize the conversation? And if I do do I use quotation marks?

 

[HareBrain]

You can do. There's no convention for crystal-ball speech. I wouldn't use quote marks unless they're speaking aloud, but that's just me. If they are speaking aloud, like on a telephone, then I'd probably just write it as normal.

I use italics without quotes for direct thought, and with quotes as remembered speech (so still in the mind of the POV, but an actual voice, albeit in the past). The former is a convention, the latter I picked up from Tolkien as a kid.

I also have written cases of POV characters being addressed by something possessing them, and in these cases I've started the line with an em-dash. It seems to work. Basically anything works if you're clear and consistent.

 

[Lafayette]

You can do. There's no convention for crystal-ball speech. I wouldn't use quote marks unless they're speaking aloud, but that's just me. If they are speaking aloud, like on a telephone, then I'd probably just write it as normal.
Basically anything works if you're clear and consistent.

They are speaking out loud and what you say makes sense. I had the same idea, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't going off the deep end. In this department I want to be clear and consistent.

Thanks.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

It's a style choice. There are a number of different ways to do what you want to do, but using italics is fine.

 

[Lafayette]

It's a style choice. There are a number of different ways to do what you want to do, but using italics is fine.

The more I think about it the more I think I'll go italic. I believe it will give the reader more of an idea of what's going on.
Thanks.