Interior Monologue – Write on the World

The omniscient narrator can explain what’s going on in the heads of all these people. But, does the reader really need to know what everyone is thinking?

In many ways, the rules for writing in omniscient point of view are almost the exact opposite of those for writing in a closer perspective. In omniscient POV, the narrator isn’t stuck inside the protagonist’s perspective, but instead sees and knows everything. The omniscient narrator can tell the reader what happened five hundred years ago before the protagonist was born and what is happening inside the head of a random lady crossing the street in front of the protagonist’s car (that is, if it’s relevant to the story!)

The more distance you put between the narrator’s POV and the main character’s POV, the harder it is to write interior monologue without using thought tags. In omniscient point of view, the narrator might just need those thought tags to tell the reader what other characters are thinking. But not always, so do ask yourself if there is a better way each time you insert a thought tag! Continue reading “Writing interior monologue: A god’s-eye view” →

Writing Basics

Writing interior monologue: Up close and personal

October 9, 2017October 6, 2017 Mandy Webster

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that writing interior monologue can be easiest when writing in first person and third person limited. Today, let’s delve a bit deeper into that perspective.

As I said before, it is quite simple to write interior monologue in first person point of view, as long as you remember that the narration is already something of an internal monologue in itself. Consider yourself in the situation you are writing. If you are wondering about something, how often does the monologue occur in your head as, “I wonder what he thinks he’s doing.” Or, is it more like, “What does he think he’s doing?” without adding an unnecessary explainer? Continue reading “Writing interior monologue: Up close and personal” →

Writing Basics

Interior monologue in fiction writing

October 8, 2017October 18, 2017 Mandy Webster

Interior monologue is the expression of a character’s thoughts, feelings, and impressions in a narrative. It is much like the internal monologue that runs through all our heads pretty much every waking second of every day. (Though writers should only share the thoughts that are relevant to the story!)

An excerpt from Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print

Writing interior monologue can be difficult to do well. You may be tempted to use trigger words and phrases like “I wondered,” “he thought,” and “she felt like” to express your point of view character’s internal monologue. You may also be tempted to use quotation marks around the character’s thoughts or italicize the font to show that the words are being expressed inside the character’s head rather than with her physical voice. However, if you use these tactics regularly, you should probably stop! Continue reading “Interior monologue in fiction writing” →