Link to WVU's Grammar Course lessons:
http://writersvillage.com/100/courses/business-courses/103/1.htm
Dashes
The most common dash is an em-dash. (The name describes its width, which
is the same as a capital M.) That's the dash that works as sort of an amplified
comma, in sentences like this:
My three brothers--Larry, Moe, and Curly--all skipped my wedding.
There was only one thing to do--find out who killed George.
"Oh, my God! The dead man looks just like--" A shot rang out. (Use a dash
in dialogue to indicate that the speech has broken off abruptly; if it
trails off, use an ellipsis: "Um, I don't really know...")
(It's kind of fun writing really bad prose to serve as examples. LOL.)
Most word processors can do em-dashes; in Word, just type two hyphens between
two words (no spaces) and it should be set to change them to a dash
automatically.
If your word processor doesn't do that, you can also indicate an em-dash
by using two hyphens. That's how they did it back in the typewriter days.
I wonder if you were using hyphens instead of dashes (you do in your post).
A hyphen is the shortest "dash" and is only used to join certain compound
words (like em-dash or twenty-three) or to create compound adjectives in
front of a noun (like blue-green eyes). People often use hyphens when they
should be using dashes, but because they have different functions, this
substitution can be confusing to the reader. A hyphen is always part of
a word. A dash is always a mark of punctuation showing the relationship
between different elements in a sentence. One way to remember it is this:
a hyphen isn't big enough to do a dash's job.
(There's also a dash called an en-dash, which is halfway in length between
a hyphen and an em-dash. Those have a couple of uses, but the most common
is in number ranges, like 15-20. There are also "three-em dashes," a single
dash the length of three em-dashes put together, but you'll almost never
have a reason to use those in fiction, so I won't go on about them.)
The judge shouldn't have marked you off for using asterisks to mark a scene
or POV change. That's common practice; different publishers will have different
preferences, but it's not an issue of "right" or "wrong." Anyway, it's
a typesetting thing, not an issue when the book is in manuscript form,
for heaven's sake.
--Nancy
Below are some basic HTML codes (provided by Mary and Joan)
bold italics underline
You use these "brackets:" and inside, you put b, i, and u. You open with
the brackets and the letter, and you close with a bracket and a diagonal
slash / followed by the letter, followed by a bracket. I hope that makes
sense. I can't demonstrate or the signal will just make my word bold, italicized
or underlined.
Bold
Italic
Underline
This blue bold italic is underlined
You will have to remove the spaces between > this character to make it
come out and all you have to do is highligt the above ctrl c to copy it
and save it for future use. I hope this helps if not let me know and I'll
send you a word document giving you all the steps.
From WVU:
What those assignments have used is HTML coding, the "language" for use on the Web. HTML codes surround the words that you want to make appear differently. HTML code appears within the greater-than and less-than signs (a.k.a. pointy brackets) that appear on your keyboard on the comma and period keys. Because the HTML tags will disappear and leave only the formatting, for these examples, I am leaving extra white space within the code. Actual code will not have these extra spaces.
< i >this is italic< /i >
appears as this is italic
< b >this is bold< /b >
appears as this is bold
< u >this is underlined< /u >
appears as this is underlined
< h3 >this makes a nice heading for a chapter < /h3 >
appears as
Remember to use a tag right before and immediately after the word(s) you want to format. Use the forward slash (question mark/slash key) to turn off the code. If you don't do this, your entire post could be bold/italicized, etc. Use Preview Post to make sure that the formatting is the way you want it.
(With thanks to Charity Tahmaseb)