It may not be perfect for every story, genre, and set of circumstances, but it will work for many. Option #3, writing thoughts without italics, makes for the least intrusive read and is likely the best choice for most of today’s writers and for most genres. But be selective: one option is likely to be a better choice than either of the others given the needs of a particular story and the effect you want or need to create. In practical terms, try any of the following.
![how to introduce a quote into a speech how to introduce a quote into a speech](https://www.quotemaster.org/images/0c/0c633d64bcc406d6e2f8a880f231e0d8.png)
Thoughts that up the emotional temperature for the reader. Give the reader thoughts that reveal the character and have bearing on the plot. You could show random thoughts a time or two to establish the way a character thinks, but skip those kinds of thoughts for the most part. We don’t need to hear everything, just the good stuff. So be sure we don’t get a thought from the dog when a couple is having a fight, not unless the dog is the viewpoint character for the scene.Īlso, you’ll only want to reveal thoughts and inner dialogue that advance the plot. And you certainly won’t be doing so within the same scene. Unless you’re writing from a completely omniscient viewpoint, which is quite unusual these days, you won’t be dipping into and out of every character’s head. So, how does the writer convey the thoughts and inner dialogue of a character?įirst, the character must be the viewpoint character for a scene. They can reveal a character’s conflict between his inner man and the needs of others They allow characters to be differentiated
![how to introduce a quote into a speech how to introduce a quote into a speech](https://static.americanmensa.org/Assets/MFK2/assets/Image/Teach/LessonPlans/Lesson_Quotations-13.png)
Thoughts and lectures to self allow readers insight into a character What else can thought and inner dialogue do? A man who’s holding back sarcasm or inappropriate humor may present a blank face to other characters but may reveal his irreverence to the reader. We see her own feelings and the need she feels to protect her child from a painful truth.Ĭharacter thought can also lighten a scene. When we see a mother comforting her child, telling him all is well, and then we see into her thoughts, knowing that in truth she has no hope that all will be well, we feel her love for her child. Thought and inner dialogue can be used to raise the emotional level of a scene. They reveal emotions or beliefs too painful to be shared with other characters. They reveal hope or dreams or resignation. Thought and inner dialogue give the reader insight he can’t get from watching a character’s actions from the outside. And we hear not only passive thoughts-the stream of consciousness patter that flows through the mind-but deliberate dialogue-a character giving himself a pep-talk or talking himself into or out of particular actions. With characters, however, we get to listen in. That’s a bit too much for any of us 3-dimensional people.
![how to introduce a quote into a speech how to introduce a quote into a speech](https://assets.ltkcontent.com/images/21418/19368.quotes_0066f46bde.jpg)
To do so would make them vulnerable, naked, without protection. Most people simply don’t tell what they’re thinking, in full, to others. If they did, they’d be talking nonstop.Īnd they’d be opening up the very most intimate part of themselves. Lovers may share most of what they’re thinking, or an abusive parent might dump every thought on a child, but for the most part, men and women don’t share every thought. In our worlds, however, even if we do reveal our thoughts, it’s likely that no one hears those thoughts uncensored. Unless we reveal them, no one knows what we’re thinking. He hears it and the reader hears it, but other characters have no idea what’s going on in his head.
![how to introduce a quote into a speech how to introduce a quote into a speech](https://multimedia-english.com/recursos/editor/037.jpg)
Inner dialogue is simply the speech of a character to himself. The topic of character thoughts has come up repeatedly for me in the last couple of weeks, and I promised to address punctuation for inner dialogue. Februby Fiction Editor Beth Hill last modified March 21, 2016įYI-I updated this article on Jan.