: Writing figures in novels I believe that most of the time, it is advised to write out figures as words in novels, rather than writing the actual figure. E.g. He's twenty years old. He lives

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Basically agree with Lostinfrance (and upvoted).

My copy of MLA Handbook says to write out numbers that can be expressed in one or two words, and use numerals for those that require more. So "fifteen" and "twenty-one" but "102" and "3 1/2".

They further state to always use numerals with a symbol or abbreviation, so "" and "4 p.m." and "8 kg". Also use numerals in addresses -- "14 Elm Street" -- and dates.

I've also heard the "up to twenty" rule frequently cited. It would give similar results, though exceptions would be "twenty-one" and "two thousand". Personally I'll normally write "a thousand" or "one thousand" rather than "1,000" in most cases.

Another common rule is that if you give several numbers, and some of them are big enough to call for numerals, then you should use numerals for all. That is, it is inconsistent to write something like, "The results of our counts were sixteen, 124, and one hundred." Once you resort to numerals, make everything related numerals.

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I would recommend using a style guide and being consistent. I use THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE which Is very different from AP on this subject. Also, I would have differences in narrative versus dialogue:

There was a 150-ton truck blocking the path

but, "Did you know that there is a hundred-and-fifty-ton truck in our path?"

Certain things should be ordinals in either case (brands and whatnot):

The 747 is the largest passenger airplane. It holds 850 passengers.

but, "Dude, that 747 is huge! It holds, like, eight fifty!"

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The usual convention is that numbers up to twenty are written out - as I just did with the word "twenty". The same is true for numbers that are said as a single phrase like "fifteen" or "five hundred" or "forty thousand".

Other than that, use figures. 1970's, not "Nineteen-seventies". 3.30pm, not "three-thirty p.m.". However "I'll see you at three", not "I'll see you at 3". Decade names such as "the sixties" or "the 50's" could go either way.

The rule of thumb would be, does it feel natural to say the number in a single breath? If so, write it out. Having the numbers written out means that the continuous flow of text is not disrupted. If, however, the numbers are longer so that you would need a great long string of text to write them out, it's much more convenient to use numerals.

There are exceptions and borderline cases. Sometimes text that would usually be in numerals can be written out for emphasis. "That number wasn't 549, you twit. It was 594. Five-nine-four."

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