Quote:
Originally Posted by robintes
this is an old horse chestnut but we are dealing with the ebook revolution here, with a totally new type of media with some possible unique features not possible with the printed word.
For example we all know the problem - and tedium of laying out dialog properly punctuated. when you have more than two interlocutors then formal punctuation is almost essential or the reader will rapidly get lost especially if it spans several pages.
SOOOOOOOOOO
I though why not give each character its own font sufficiently different to know whos speaking.
Is that a silly idea, has someone already done this  |
The ability to use different fonts is not in any way part of an "ebook revolution," but has long been possible in print. What you call the "tedium of laying out dialog properly punctuated" is one of the bare minimums an author owes to a reader: clarity. Moreover, your idea of different fonts for different speakers isn't addressing punctuation at all; presumably you want to avoid using tags to indicate who's speaking. In addition to the visual cacophony, changing fonts wouldn't aid the reader in knowing that--we already have an handy-dandy tool called paragraphs to indicate shifts from one speaker to another. Tags are still needed in any lengthy dialog.
Quote:
Originally Posted by robintes
thank you for your for your frank and worldly wise response, much appreciated - Robin said laconically
One of the paradoxes (dreaded word fraught with logical argument) is as follows
Take your sentence above
Do you really understand what I mean
Imagine you take each word and separately put a vocal stress on it and observe how it alters the meaning of the sentence
Sometimes this can be trivially subtle and other times can completely alter the meaning of a plain spoken sentence - I hope this makes sense.
Question How to write this dramatic dialogue so the reader will understand
No doubt playwrights have solved this long ago - but that's way out of my bailiwick
Would this work
Do you really understand what I mean
Do you really understand what I mean
Do you really understand what I mean
Do you really understand what I mean
Do you really understand what I mean
Do you really understand what I mean
Do you really understand what I mean
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Now you've shifted gears entirely; what does this have to do with changing fonts for different speakers? An author can certainly use italics to stress a key word or phrase. This is not a new thing.