You just put <i> before whatever you want italicized, and </i> at the end.  That should do the trick.

Thank you so much! You've saved me!!

Okay, so I've finally finished the latest chapter in my fic, which I feel took far too much time, but this one thing is driving me crazy. For the HTML format, does anyone know how to get two lines centered? I tried putting <p align="center">CONTENT GOES HERE</p> but it didn't work, and I just really feel like I need these two lines to stand out.  Can anyone out there who understands computers better than I do help me? 
If it makes a difference, what I wanted centered is on two different lines,
          LIKE
          this

Please help!
                                              

You use <center> before the text and then </center> after. It shouldn't matter if it's on two different lines.

<center> content goes here </center>

Thanks so much, it worked! And I'm glad you replied so quickly-- I would have been in agony of trying to decide to post or not, while it felt wrong, after the chapter was already delayed so long!

I use italics to emphasize words, too, but I try not to rely on it too much. I used to have a tendency to try to write the dialogue exactly how I heard it in my head, and emphasized the words that were said more strongly. But it's kind of annoying when you have to put the html codes in manually, so I've learned to trust the reader to hear it however Buffy or whoever's speaking would say it.

I also use italics for thoughts, but I don't tend to use thoughts all that much. My narrative usually gets into the characters' heads enough that I only need the occasional line or two when a character is speaking to him or herself.

The one time I felt my italics use got confusing was when I was writing the musical - I also used italics for song lyrics, so I had to avoid situations where it was unclear whether the person was thinking or singing, lol.

I use italics for thoughts - and in many of my fics I have a lot of thoughts, so I'm always playing with other ways to add emphasis.  I give the readers credit for being able to differentiate between the thoughts and an emphasized word -cause if they can't, shame on me - but sometimes I use all caps or an underline or bold.  All caps are easy, because I don't have to worry about the html, but they seem to come on a little too strong most of the time.  So, usually I use italics for both. Like Eowyn (big surprise there, lol), I tend to write the dialogue the way I hear it in my head, which usually includes some emphasized words, which makes having a way to set them off a must.

OH cheats, wonder if they work on all sites, cause I use italics for thoughts too and I totally unrelated site does not do it for me.

smlcspike

I think so.  I write with code now and the only place that doesn't code it for me is LJ.  I have noticed at some sites that you need to make sure you hit the PREVIEW button for the code to work though.

Yep, MP is right. On some sites, it won't show you the italics, even in the preview; but after you post, if you go back and check, it's there.  I think those are mostly the sites that have menus similar to what's right above the comment box on here, where you can highlight the text and click on "I" to have it italicized.  I guess it expects you to do it that way, and has to reconsider how to handle it if the code is already in.  That's my guess, anyway. :) 

I think LJ holds it for me when I've typed it into my text, but maybe not - I'll have to make a note of it the next time I have something to post there.  It's possible that it doesn't, cause I seem to remember going back and adding it an awful lot of the time...

If you copy and paste, the only way LJ keeps the italics is if you're using Rich Text mode. If not, then you need to code it in.

CM

Ah - that's kind of what I remember. Although, the one time I tried "Rich Text" just to see if I was smart enough to use it, it still made me put the italics in - I just didn't have to put in the html code, I could highlight and click the "I", so not a whole lot more helpful.  I probably didn't check the actual entry, though, so it might be that I need to have a bit more faith. lol