punctuation - Use quotation marks for internal monologue?


In a similar vein to my previous question on styling written quotes, should I use quotation marks for interior monologue in narrative writing?


It is common to use italics to denote thoughts:



This won't be easy, she thought.



But I would use quotation marks in this scenario:



"This won't be easy," she said to herself.




Answer




"This won't be easy," she said to herself.



This doesn't read as internal monologue to me at all; it reads as someone speaking aloud, but "to herself", i.e. in an undertone, maybe muttering, not apparently directed at anybody else.


If it's meant to be truly internal, I'd stick with the italics.


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