Checking on acceptable ways to emphasize in casual writing…

Question

I know that in academia , it is advised to stick with italicizing and underlining for word emphasis.

But I have doubts on appropriate ways to emphasize words in casual writing? Are there no specific rules and ways ranging from “quotation marks” , ALLCAP to font change, size change, spacing are all acceptable?

Answer 1

If you're doing informal writing, italics or bold would be sufficient. It's good to be careful with all caps because, in social media and email it indicates yelling. Changing the size of the font would have the same effect. Underlining has come to indicate a link so I would advise against that. When texting you can use an asterisk on either side of a word like *this*. If italics are available, that's always best.

Some people say that if you choose the right words you shouldn't need to visually cue the reader as to which word is important.

Answer 2

Casual writing really relies on what all writing should be most concerned about: communication. Do what gets your point across most effectively to your reader. Clearly you wouldn’t use the same methods of emphasis to your close friend as you would to their parent. As Denise rightly advises, you also need to be aware of the different etiquette of, say, text conversations and handwritten notes to be snail-mailed. Even if you were using the same words to send your friend your selfie from vacation and on a postcard from the same place to your grandma, you could safely use all caps to your friend but might just underline “awesome” on the postcard.