When an author wishes to visually differentiate between thoughts and dialogue, thoughts are often put in italics, especially when the phrase passing through the character's head is not preceded or followed by the phrase “so-and-so thought.” In second and third person, italics are usually necessary (without the “so-and- ...

Do you italicize thoughts?

If you're writing fiction, you may style a character's thoughts in italics or quotation marks. Using italics has the advantage of distinguishing thoughts from speech. ... If house style allows it, an editor may follow the author's preference for italics or quotation marks.

Do you italicize thoughts in first person?

In the first-person narrative, everything you write is straight out of the main character's brain. You don't need to clarify the character's thoughts by placing them in italics or qualifying them with an “I thought” tag.