I've a short story in the form of a journal. What's the best format for the datestamp?
Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :
Captain's Log, Stardate 3045.6
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
In the Year of Our Lord 1456, at Christmastide
Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :
Seriously, it depends on the viewpoint of the journal-er. European might be "1 Aug 2005." A technical type, US, might be "8/1." What fits with the narrator's character?
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :
i prefer stardate 3134.6
Posted by tchernabyelo (Member # 2651) on :
If you're aiming for a general (global) audience, use words for your months, not numbers.
1/8/05 is the 8th of January in the US, but the 1st of August in Europe. Saying "January 8th" will make it abundantly clear.
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
Should they be bolded, underlined, italized, some of the above?
Posted by tchernabyelo (Member # 2651) on :
They should be consistent
And I would have thought that marking them up as bold, italic or both would just help to mark them out as the transitoins from one section to another. That's if you're talking about using them as headings. If you're referring to dates within the text (i.e. the journal entry refers to other dates - "As on 3rd August, I found myself faced with a dilemma") just treat them as part of the text.
I'm not sure what the term for a short story in journal form is - I assume there is one (as per epistolary). I would think that you'd start each entry as a new "chapter" - if you had the space and your typesetters were amenable, each entry should start a new page.
