Which way should thoughts be written?

Okay, so I'm trying to get my character's thoughts written, but I don't know which format is best to write with. I have three top ways of writing said thoughts, so I want to know which you prefer to read:


- Type 1: Italics and Speaker Tags -

Now, I know that's not true, he thought. Surely he could come up with a better excuse than that!


- Type 2: Italics -

He gave a cordial smile. Now, I know that's not true. Surely he could come up with a better excuse than that!


- Type 3: Indirect Thoughts -
He gave a cordial smile; he knew it wasn't true. Surely George could come up with a better excuse given adequate time.


Thanks for reading and replying!

I think the beauty of writing is that everything in it has to be balanced. So I'm going to go ahead and say that I think all of those ways you've given should be used throughout. I don't think there's anything wrong with any of them, and I think they all add something in their own way.

Though I for sure wouldn't use the last one indefinitely, because i feel the other two bring you into the story more. But that's just my opinion.

What Holy said.

Each one of those has its own flavour, and I'd use different types of thoughts depending on context, just like dialogue. It gets boring to read the same types of dialogue formats over and over, so the same can be said for thoughts.

I think it also depends on the character. I tend to read younger characters with thoughts as full sentences of almost speech and older characters who sum up their thoughts with a few words.