How to style movies, sculptures, video games, and more
Dear editors,
Whether it’s because you’re flooding the zone for Frasier’s 25th anniversary or evaluating the problem of diversity on Chef’s Table, you’ve probably written about a book, TV show, or movie lately. But how, exactly, should you style works of art?
Your best bet is to check in the composition titles section of the Eater Style Guide or Curbed Style Guide, where you’ll find guidance about how to style podcasts (italics), paintings (quotation marks), and ship names (capital letters). If you’re still not sure, ask me on Slack.
To get you started, here are the essentials:
Movie titles
Italicize.
Capitalize articles, like “The,” as the first word in movie titles: The chef’s favorite movie is The Thin Man.
TV shows
Italicize.
Capitalize articles, like “The,” as the first word in TV show titles: “The interior decoration on The Sopranos is still in style today.”
Seasons and episodes should be capitalized and use figures: Season 1, Season 2, Episode 1, Episode 2.
For episode titles, use quotation marks.
Books
Italicize.
Capitalize articles, like “The,” as the first word in book titles: I recently read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
For chapter titles, use quotation marks.
Podcasts
Italicize.
Capitalize articles, like “The,” as the first word in podcast titles: The Horror of Dolores Roach.
For episode titles, use quotation marks.
Newspaper and magazine names
Italicize.
The word “the” in newspapers and magazines does not need to be capitalized/italicized. Example: the New York Times.
Shortened versions of newspapers are italicized as well. Example: the Times.
For article titles, use quotation marks.
Online-only publications
Capitalize.
No italics are needed (that goes for Eater and Curbed, too).
Songs
Quotation marks.
When quoting lyrics, use a forward slash, with spaces around it, between each line: I’ve been a-searchin’ for the dolphins in the sea / Ah, but sometimes I wonder, do you ever think of me?
What about headlines?
Use single quotation marks for composition titles in heds.
However, newspapers and magazines do not need quotation marks in heds.
And social copy?
Use double quotation marks for composition titles in homepage cards, Facebook copy, and Twitter copy.
However, newspapers and magazines do not need quotation marks in social copy.
One last reminder!
Although the word “the” is capitalized in book, TV show, and movie titles, it should always be lowercase in restaurant names: the Grill, we ate at the Green Table.
Copy News
New to our word lists: City Council (capitalized when it refers to a specific city council, even without the full name; lowercase for generic uses), councilmember (lowercase except before a proper name: Councilmember Paul Koretz), dal, pu’erh tea, percent (spell out; don’t use the % symbol), Proposition: spell out in all mentions (Proposition 10), and renters insurance.
Merriam-Webster’s editor at large discusses the words of summer 2018. The difference between “forego” and “forgo.” And the allure of recently returned library books.
Have a great week,
Emma