Is Recalled Dialogue in Italics *and* Quotation Marks?

SquareSails

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I searched the dialogue and internal thoughts threads and couldn't come up with anything, so forgive me if this was asked and answered.

Suppose you have a character remembering a conversation. Is recalled dialogue formatted in italics and quotation marks? Or just italics?

A little to the left, she had whispered.
 

Snick

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It depends on how it is being presented and how long it is. If it is a long section, the it might be best to call it a flashback and give it separate chapter or section withoin a chapter. If it is just a line, then have it as a quote within a quote, which would just use single quotation marks and the doubles would be outside the paragraph in which iyt was quoted.
 

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Steve said, "'A little to the left,' she had whispered. So I slid to the end of the bench."

It seldoms looks completely right having the single and the double beside each other, but that's the way it works sometimes.
 

SquareSails

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It's more like this, not dialogue within dialogue:

He cherished the memory of their last night together. A little to the left, she had said. He had been all thumbs.
 

Snick

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I don't think that there is a strict rule on that, but I think that the single quotation mark would still be best; but I hate running into italics while reading.

He cherished the memory of their last night together. 'A little to the left,' she had said. He had been all thumbs.
 

lordzapharos

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In fact, I prefer the version with italics (I think the quotation marks distract more from the flow of the text than italics would), but either version is acceptable. Because the typeface will have an effect on italicization (some fonts don't do well with italics at all), it will probably be a decision your agent or publisher will make, so I wouldn't worry about it right now.
 

benbradley

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Oh, it's recalled as in REMEMBERED dialogue. From the subject line I thought you meant the speaker was taking it back, like a product safety recall...

But yeah, I'd think italics should be good to indicate a line that someone remembers someone else saying. It would have been in quotes when she actually said it in the original scene, even if you didn't write it.
 

IceCreamEmpress

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I've seen each (quotation marks or italics, never both). Your publisher will probably have a house style on this. At the manuscript stage, the most important thing is to be consistent and do it the same way every time.
 

WriteMinded

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My MC remembers things his brother told him. I italicize them when he "hears" them in the present.
 

s.cummings

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I love it when I go on the Google, and type in a question, and it brings me to a thread here on AW that answers the question. Perfect. :)
 

Roxxsmom

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I've seen each (quotation marks or italics, never both). Your publisher will probably have a house style on this. At the manuscript stage, the most important thing is to be consistent and do it the same way every time.

This makes sense. I just ran into something similar in my own novel, and decided to go with quotes.

But Danior had countered his every argument. "Come on, Jar," he'd said. "You're good at research. If you win the high adjudicator's patronage, you can tell your old man to go **** himself."
Might be something to look up and see if there's a standard way it's handled in books published in your genre.