Sorry I haven't been updating this much, I'm working on a long "BTS FF Pet Peeves" chapter that I hope will be fun to read. It's very detailed and it's been taking a while to write, so I hope you enjoy it when it comes out!

This chapter talks about using pictures to avoid description and using italics/bold for emphasis.

Read the disclaimer if you haven't already.

Part 1: Pictures

A lot of Wattpad authors use pictures in their story, and I think that's cool. Multimedia storytelling is super interesting, and it's something I'm currently studying in my English class.

I don't think there's anything wrong with using pictures in your story as long as they aren't A) excessive and B) used instead of describing things.

Pictures are not an excuse for you to not set a scene or describe things. Unless you're writing a script (which most people on here aren't), pictures being used to set a scene aren't very good for engagement since you're telling the audience what the scene looks like instead of showing it.

Part of the glory of writing is that every single reader will interpret your words differently. Even with descriptions, part of the fun is being able to imagine the scene for ourselves.

I'm someone who can't imagine a scene's appearance no matter how well it's described to me, but trying to put pieces together is still fun. When an author gives a picture instead of describing the scene, my engagement isn't as high.

Even if you're writing a script, relying too much on pictures hurts the narrative flow. Scripts are already hard enough to write for people to read because they're not engaging. They tell everything and even have character secrets sometimes listed in the character sheet. They're not meant to be read; they're meant to be performed, which gives them the emotion they need.

Pictures can take away from the immersion depending on how often you use them. I myself have used pictures in my stories, most notably, Like Crazy. Since it has such a whacky, new world with different creatures, places, and events, I did both description and pictures/gifs to set the scene for the readers who prefer to read descriptions and also the ones who are more visual and need that visual aid to picture things clearly.

If you're a reader who prefers stories with lots of pictures, there's nothing wrong with that! Same applies to readers who prefer stories with absolutely no pictures whatsoever. It's your preferred reading style, and that's the glory of Wattpad, right? You can find anything and everything on here.

My main point is to encourage you to use pictures if you want to, but don't use them as an excuse to not describe the scene.

There are also a lot of readers who dislike excessive pictures and/or gifs. They want to read a story. If they wanted to look at pictures and gifs, they'd open Google and type "pictures and gifs." So keep that in mind while deciding what pictures to include in your story.

Pictures and gifs can definitely help your story stand out and even immerse your reader more in the world you're crafting; however, be cautious not to overuse them (depending on what type of story you're telling), and don't use them as an excuse to not describe a scene, character, emotion, etc.

Part 2: Emphasis

Italics and bold are used for emphasis. Bold isn't used as often, and when it is, it's most commonly used to bold chapter titles to give them more emphasis.

For that reason, I will be focusing on italics.

Italics are a great way to give emphasis. However, like with most if not all things, excessive use of italics is distracting and gives it less emphasis.

The more you use these tools (bold, italics, underline, ellipses, etc.), the less impact they have.

Italics should be used every once in a while to give emphasis to certain lines. You don't have to use italics if you don't want to, but they are useful depending on the story you're telling. As you probably noticed, I just used italics to put emphasis on "have." It changes how you read the sentence, and also my tone.

A lot of readers enjoy seeing italics. In my creative writing class both this semester and last semester, something my classmates praised about someone's work was their use of italics. I personally use italics in my stories every once in a while to show emphasis. In Plastic World, I use them a bit more frequently because of the genre of the story. Plastic World is a fun, silly story, so I use italics to give it that over-the-top, dramatic feel. That's one way to use italics, but the options are endless.

I definitely encourage using them since it seems they go over well with audiences (in my experience, anyway). It's always fun to read a sentence with italics since you never know which way it can go. Italics can be used to show sass, emphasis, sarcasm, etc. They're also very commonly used to show a character's thoughts.

Things like bold and underline aren't used as often. I don't really want to talk about underline since I've seen it used a total of once on Wattpad, and bold isn't used frequently either.

I don't think there's anything wrong with bold, but I always thought italics were better for emphasis. There's something about bold that turns me off from the text. I myself use it for headings and emphasis, so I'm not saying it's bad, but when I'm reading a story and there's a lot of bolded text, it rubs me the wrong way for some reason.

So, long story short, use these tools for emphasis, but don't go too crazy. Remember that the more you use a certain device, the less effective that device becomes.

Part 3: Using italics/bold for another language

A handful of times, I've seen authors use italics and/or bold to indicate to the audience that the character is speaking a different language.

I was never a huge fan of this method simply because bold hurts my eyes, and italics makes me think the characters are in their thoughts, so it takes me a second to adjust.

However, I'd much prefer an author show the character is speaking a different language using italics and/or bold than not indicate it at all.

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing because it does help the audience know what language the character(s) is speaking. Plus, it's Wattpad. It's definitely easier to use bold/italics than other methods, and despite what it may seem, I have no issues with authors who want to use easier methods to write. It's Wattpad, have fun and don't stress yourself, okay? Make sure you're writing because you're having fun, cause that's the goal.

For me personally, I'm a silly goose. It'll take me two business days to remember the italics indicate a different language, and my eyes dislike excessive bold so I try to read those lines as fast as possible.

Personally, I prefer stories that use the actual language the characters are speaking. I know that may be asking a lot of the author, but it's less immersion-breaking when the actual text is there.

The Expanse series is a good example. It's a massive sci-fi world, and the Belters speak a different language. I don't know what they're saying (the authors don't translate), but the foreign language is in bite-sized chunks, does a great job establishing the world, and gives me a chance to learn. I've picked up on a few of the words they're saying based on context clues and repetition.

Obviously, I'm not suggesting you do that. That's just an option if you're ever interested in changing up how you show language in a story.

It's up to you how you do, but make sure it is clear. 

Long story short, I don't think there's anything wrong with using italics and/or bold to show when a character is speaking a different language, just keep in mind some readers, such as myself, may get confused with italics because we're used to seeing them used for thoughts, and bold can hurt our eyes when used excessively.

Or maybe that's just me. I'm a Cancer, so I'm a sensitive redhead.

I personally don't use different languages other than Korean, and if I ever do, it's only ever one word or a small phrase, like in Mi Amor, where Jimin uses Italian terms of endearment.

And hey, I'm half-Italian. I should probably be learning it anyway.

When I use other languages, I just type out the language then the translation in ( ). But I understand not everyone likes this method, so I encourage you to experiment and find what works for you!

~End~

I'll give my thoughts on Standing Next To You another time, likely when I update Flawed since that's a Jungkook story (and I'm almost done with another chap). I typically don't give opinions on new songs by the members, but I want to talk about JK's new song now. I didn't like Seven, 3D, and TOO MUCH, so I didn't expect to like Standing Next To You either, but I did, which is why I want to talk about it later.

Anyway, please don't attack me for disliking those three songs. It's nothing against them, they're just not my preferred genre of music. I still like most of JK's solo work. I'll talk more about Standing Next To You soon, and maybe even all of Golden if I get a chance to listen to it before I publish the next Flawed chap.

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