I'm wondering about expressing action sounds in a piece of writing. Not so much how to spell them out, but how to format it. What's the correct way to have it in there? Would a sound effect be its own paragraph, like a piece of dialog? This makes sense to me since dialog is a break from the rest; so is CRRRUNCH! Also, should they be in all capitals? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.
I've seen them done most often with non-caps and italics, when an author chooses to do this. It isn't something you see a lot, though.
Depends on what you're going for. When I think of CRRUNCH! I think humor - Five seconds after meeting Alice her book bag swung during our hand shake and hit me in the groin. While I was bent over clutching my balls and trying to make light of the situation, my glasses fell and off and Alice took a step forward - CRRRUNCH! In those five minutes I had the grounds for a restraining order. Because it looks very pop art I would think it would work best in very bouncy or flashy prose - Tom Wolfe uses this a lot, or in a more comic book style or edgy prose - Mike Hammer, or maybe something humorous. But if the scene is deadly serious I'm not sure I'd go that route. Usually in horror you get some italic - crunch. You could post the scene if you want and get some advice. Cause it's hard to say if it will or won't work - Context is key.
It absolutely is very bouncy and flashy--mostly humorous--prose. It's completely appropriate to do this in the story. I'm just not sure about how to execute, technically.
