Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we're saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I'm Lauren Smyth, and I have some exciting news: Preorders for my fourth book, a science fiction novel called Warsafe, open today! This is all very fun and will be a big party online. If you want to join in, you can find more information about it at laurensmythbooks.com--and that's "Smyth" spelled with a y. As excited as I am, however, I still have to use good grammar to create emphasis. So what are some grammatically correct ways to draw a reader's attention to a word or phrase in a sentence?

All caps are a bad idea. Multiple exclamation points are iffy at best and just annoying at worst. Italics are an acceptable option as long as they're not over-used. Bolding feels aggressive and is not siuggested by any style guide. The best and most professional way to create emphasis is simply to structure your sentence to point at the thing you want to be noticed. This typically includes putting the important point at the beginning, though for style purposes, you might also put it right at the end to create suspense or tension. Be sure not to have multiple important points in the same sentence. Also, keep key sentences short.

That's your Grammar Minute! Visit laurensmythbooks.com to learn more about the book--and that's Smyth spelled with a Y.