1. How to write an interior monologue
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So. Let's start with what an interior monologue, or internal monologue, really is. It's a nice fat chunk
of text of thought -- that is, a narrative of exactly what is going on in a character's head. These can be
tricky to pull off successfully for two reasons. First, just like it's a struggle for even great writers to
reproduce authentic sounding dialogue, it's just as hard to create an authentic-sounding interior
dialogue. Because when we're thinking, that's really what's going on -- we're talking to ourselves
silently. We usually don't use big words or perfectly grammatically correct sentences in our thoughts.
Unless we have the control of a zen master, most of the time thoughts are fragmented, darting, a
million places at once. But that brings us to the other challenge of an interior monologue. If we do it
too well and accurately capture what thought is usually like, we will probably end up with the literary
equivalent of Jackson Pollock painting. It will be incomprehensible and very post-modern. If you're
going for that, for the next Finnegan's Wake or To the Lighthouse, then by all means forge ahead, but
for your normal interior monologue, one that can be very touching or effective, you need balance
and discipline. After the jump: how to monologue.
An interior monologue is all about character and voice. It's about knowing your character so
intimately that you know how he speaks to himself in his head. Even if you don't use an interior
monologue in your story, it's a good idea to have this level of knowledge anyway, as a kind of
baseline that will improve how you write about his actions. So first, let's begin with character.
Character Is your character the kind of person who would talk to himself extensively? If not, you're
barking up the wrong tree. If he is, what's on his mind at this stage in the story? Is he frightened,
worried, rapturously in love, paranoid? What are the things haunting his thoughts? A past love, a
crime he is about to commit, someone who wants him dead, the traumatic event he witnessed that
day? Whatever it is, it should be the centerpiece of your monologue, returning again and again. His
thoughts might wander to lighter matters, but always they must come back, circling around and
constantly returning to The One Thing dominating the interior monologue.
Voice This is all about character as well. As I mentioned earlier, it will be incoherent if you try to
actually reproduce literally everything a character is thinking. Instead, try to isolate his particular
voice. It's probably similar to the way he talks, but more intimate. Perhaps it is only in his thoughts
that the character's insecurities are allowed to come to the surface. Perhaps he denies feelings for
another person outwardly, but is inwardly infatuated. The voice must strike a balance between too-
tidy narration, which will sound awkward, forced, and artificial, and pure stream-of-consciousness,
which will lack continuity. Err on the side of stream-of-consciousness at first; let your pencil go where
it will. You can clean it up later.