[cybmole]

I spend ages trying to recall how I'd been taught to write - it's been so long since I wrote a (paper) letter - & I could not test myself to see what indenting comes naturally without thinking about what I "should" do ( the "don't think of an elephant " issue.. )

I did avoid putting my foot in it re newspaper extracts, I was all set to claim that printed newspapers use no indents + big paragraph spaces ( like they do online) but then I found a paper one...

I think that just leaves the question of fully justified. Handwritten notes will never be justified like proper typesetting but whether that should be replicated in a novel I am unsure. I don't like seeing ragged right margins, even though I just made a case for having them!

I like the printed book trick of changing font family for the "handwritten" bits but that'a pain to reproduce in e-books across a range of readers, I know.

I have another mild peeve where sections of text are italicised but then a word within that section is un-italicised for emphasis. I think that's ugly. but don't have an alternative to propose. I'm not sure if that happens in printed books but I've seen it in many e-books