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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/12723
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In a novel I am currently writing, characters frequently express thoughts. Following the advice I found [here](http://theeditorsblog.net/2012/02/28/inner-dialogue-writing-character-thoughts/), which states: "Never use quotation marks for thoughts, even if those thoughts are inner dialogue, a character talking to himself. Reserve quotation marks for speech that’s vocalized." It generally seems to be recommended to use italics when showing that a character is thinking instead of talking.

That's all fine, but now I am running into the problem that I also need to add emphasis sometimes. For example: "And what have _you_ done all this time?" I usually also do this with italics, since boldface is too strong - It literally catches the attention too much.

But now my (probably stupid) problem: What do I do when a character is thinking something with emphasis? Example: He thought _Yeah, YOU'RE one to talk_. Now, I could just use capital letters, as I did here for illustration purposes, but these look very unprofessional to me.

Does anyone have any advice on how to circumvent this problem?

Original score: 5