Hey, I was wondering if anyone knows how to place a newspaper article into a story? My idea is to start off with an article on creepy events that have happened, a whole chapter long(which would be the prologue) .And the actual story would begin, say, ten years later. I was thinking off placing it as Italics. But to really show it's from a newspaper, should I put a title, and then the article? Or mention it somewhere? If you think starting with an article is a terrible idea, or undoable, don't hesitate saying it
Well, it depends on whether you can make it sound right or not. I use Eclipse for an example, how not to do it. It has to sound like a real newspaper article, and surprisingly many authors get them wrong. If you nail it, why not. If it doesn't really go, well... you can do it, of course, but think about it a little. Study newspaper articles, and IMO make it clear.
J K Rowling pulls it off really well in all of the books... She has the first or second chapters in both Deathly Hallows and Half Blood Prince with newspaper articals. So I think you could do it In one she's describing his messy room and the newspapers lying on the ground... The other one he's going through his things and picks up some newspapers.
I wouldn't start with it. Start instead with your characters. But when you need to insert all or part of your fictitious article, use a block quote. A block quote is the quoted text without any quote marks, indented on both the left and right from the story text. Do not italicize it. The inner text, like the main body text, should be left justified (i.e. aligned on the left to the indent position, ragged right).
cog... if you don't mind a bit of clarification, so new writers won't be led astray, 'justified' only refers to both margins being 'smooth/even'... when one side is even and the other side 'ragged' that is called right or left-'aligned'... but of course you're right on target about news items and other non-story peripherals being inserted as a 'block quote'...
