Author Topic: Grammar Question: Song title in text  (Read 2711 times)

Offline Kali

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Grammar Question: Song title in text
« on: March 24, 2010, 07:01:28 PM »
I reference the Soundgarden song "Fell On Black Days" repeatedly in text.  What's the proper way to handle this in fiction?  Quotes?  Italics?  Are capital letters enough?  It looks wrong no matter how I do it.
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Offline Shecky

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Re: Grammar Question: Song title in text
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2010, 07:09:50 PM »
Song titles are in quotation marks.
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Offline Enjorous

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Re: Grammar Question: Song title in text
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2010, 12:44:10 AM »
Song titles are in quotation marks.

Yup, but if you referenced the album that would be in italics. General rule of thumb short works get "quotes" long works get italics

That might be a rule of English that is actually upheld...Damn, now I have to think of an exception. Hope that helps.
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Offline Kali

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Re: Grammar Question: Song title in text
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2010, 01:36:28 AM »
Thanks, guys.  So far it's a lot of song titles in various places, so quotation marks it is.

10k words into Rewrite #1.  Go team!
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Offline Kris_W

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Re: Grammar Question: Song title in text
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2010, 03:02:09 AM »
Quotes are fine, and don't worry about it. The publishing house will have their own guidelines which they will give to the copyeditor. It's not your problem.

Offline Shecky

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Re: Grammar Question: Song title in text
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2010, 03:07:51 AM »
Yup, but if you referenced the album that would be in italics. General rule of thumb short works get "quotes" long works get italics

That might be a rule of English that is actually upheld...Damn, now I have to think of an exception. Hope that helps.

Yep, and since she was just asking about a song, that definitely qualifies for quotation marks. Point of interest: because pre-personal-computer typewriters generally couldn't handle italics, the usual approach was underlining for longer works / compilation titles.
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Well, if you couldn't do that with your bulls***, Leonard, I suspect the lad's impervious.