But many novels do use italicized words to indicate thought.  We don't have
that option in an ASCII world, thus the asterisks and so forth.  I think
they're an acceptable alternative.
Personally, I don't use such things to indicate thought.  I usually just use
dialogue with to quotation marks.

	Yup, I had forgotten the limitations of ASCII.
 

My biggest weakness as an author is that I can't describe people very well.
:)  Fanfics are kind of nice in that respect; you can assume everyone knows
what the characters look like and you don't have to spend any time
describing them.  In other words, fanfics are great for lazy people like me.

	<grin>  That _is_ one of the tangible benefits of fanfiction.  Not
that description is all that necessary.  Lots of minimalist fiction out
there that eschews lots of descriptive prose.  What the author doesn't
supply, I figure the reader will supply via imagination.
	However, I still think that, if one is going to bother with
description, than do so all the way.  Don't take shortcuts...
 

And... errr, well, I've ranted enough as is.  Who am I to
complain, considering how little fanfiction I've written lately?

<snort>  Who said you needed a license to complain?  ^_^  And as long as
it's on-topic, I think it's quite valuable here on the ML.  Sebastian
Weinberg, despite his own low fic production rate, produced a sparkling
essay on the dangers of self-insertion.

	Thanks!  Good to know I ain't spamming the list.
 

-Richard

	-Mike