Formatting titles gives some writers a headache. Should the title of songs, stories, movies, books, screenplays, etc. be in italics or quotes? When you’re trying to remember if you’re supposed to use underlining or italics or quotation marks for titles, here are a few simple rules.
Remember that people used to type their work or write it longhand. When titles needed to be italicized, italics were represented by underlining. These days, many people avoid underlining to minimize confusion between words that are underlined and hyperlinks.
1) Underlining and italics serve the same purpose. Never do both. Do NOT use quotation marks, underline, or italics together.
2) For any work that stands on its own, you should use italics or underline. (Stories or chapters from within a book are considered PARTS of the book.)
3) A work that is part of a larger work goes in quotation marks.
4) No quotation marks around titles of your own composition.
Books: Italics or Underline
CDs: Italics or Underline
Articles (Newspaper or Magazine): Quotation Marks
Chapter Titles (not chapter numbers): Quotation Marks
Magazines, Newspapers, Journals: Italics or Underline
Names of Ships, Trains, Airplanes, Spacecraft: Italics
Poems: Quotation Marks
Poems (Long): Underlined or Italics
Plays: Italics
Short Stories: Quotation Marks
Song Titles: Quotation Marks
Special Phrases (“let them eat cake”), Words, or Sentences: Quotation Marks
Television Shows and Movies: Italics
Television and Radio Episode Titles: Quotation Marks
Knowing when to use quotes, italics, or underlining can be difficult. Writer’s Relief proofreaders can help you proofread your creative writing submissions to be sure your titles are properly formatted.
