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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/5953
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I've read a lot of novels in my life and I cannot remember one, that uses **bold** for emphasizing. But maybe that's just my memory problem. I prefer _italic_, but honestly, that is a matter of taste and totally up to the writer.

I prefer italic words, because they stand out without shouting at the reader. One bold word on a page is attracting the eye. It's almost like the North Pole to a compass needle.

Italic instead stands out _while you read it_ and not during all the time your eye look at the page. (Aren't you attracted to the "bold" above from the very beginning and still are?)

Now, using quotation marks (single, double, whatever) could be problematic. They are used for citing, for dialogues, for emphasizing and to mark irony or obscene meanings of some words (like "cock"). Now, which one are you using and how do you tell it your readers?

All in all, don't have doubts, you are the writer, it's your story and if your friend has a problem with your markup, tell him/her to write his/her own story.

Original score: 10