: Re: 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

@Ravi5107385

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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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