By: Marcy Kennedy
If I took a
survey asking writers what the most important elements of fiction were, I’d
probably end up with a few consistent answers—plot, characters, dialogue,
showing rather than telling.
We might not
automatically think of including internal dialogue on the list, but we should.
Internal
dialogue is the heartbeat of fiction. It serves practical purposes, like
helping us control our pacing, but it serves deeper, more subtle roles as well.
Without enough internal dialogue or without strong internal dialogue, our
fiction can end up confusing and emotionless . We have people randomly acting,
like we’re watching a TV show without any sound.
Unfortunately,
too much internal dialogue or poor internal dialogue can make our fiction feel
immature, slow, or claustrophobic.
So to help you
develop the right kind of internal dialogue, I wanted to share a few of my
favorite ways to make sure my internal dialogue is enhancing my story rather
than detracting from it.
Technique #1 – Alternate between paragraphs focused on the POV character
and paragraphs focused elsewhere.
This topic could
be a whole post in itself, but basically paragraphs in fiction should focus on
one of two different areas. Either you have a paragraph focusing away from your
point-of-view character and onto dialogue spoken by others, action in the
environment around them, or description. Or you have a paragraph focusing on
the point-of-view character. A paragraph focusing on your point-of-view
character includes your POV character acting, thinking (a.k.a. internal
dialogue), feeling, or speaking.
We should try to
alternate evenly between the two. Alternating evenly makes sure that we keep
the reader grounded in the external environment, while also keeping them
emotionally connected to the character. The added bonus is that if you’re
working on alternating, you’ll be less likely to create the “floating head”
syndrome where your POV character thinks to themselves for paragraphs (or
pages!) at a time and puts your reader to sleep.
Technique
#2 – Use thoughts that sound like dialogue.
. . .
To read the rest of the post, click here:
~*~
If
you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they
are again:
- Essential
Social Media Tools for Social Media
Managers http://t.co/ajsRPhbrPk - 5 Ways to Break Through and Actually Start Writing http://ow.ly/RMSd3
- Laurie Campbell - BookLaurie.com http://ow.ly/RMSj7 Four Methods for Interviewing Your Characters...
- 100 Acts of Self-Care | ArtistThink http://ow.ly/RMSB0
- 7
Ways To Create an Antagonist
Readers Hate To Love | The Authors' Nook http://ow.ly/RMSEl - 46 Literary Magazines To Submit To http://ow.ly/RMSPa
- How to Write Internal Dialogue | Writers In The Storm http://ow.ly/RMXwR
- Vulnerability In Writing / R.S. Mollison-Read http://ow.ly/RMXTs
- E. M. Denning - Four Tips to Craft a Killer Novella http://ow.ly/RMY1E
- Should You Feel Guilty About Taking Your Writing Seriously? | Writing and Wellness http://ow.ly/RMYiG
- On the Singularity of Voice (Or: Don’t Put Baby in a Corner) http://ow.ly/RMYFW
- Demographics on Wattpad - Elizabeth Spann Craig http://ow.ly/RMYNP
- Fiction University: Indie Publishing Paths: What’s Your Distribution Plan? Part One http://ow.ly/RMYYO
- Screenwriter to novelist: tips for adapting to a new storytelling medium | Nail Your Novel http://ow.ly/RMZ44
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- 5 Techniques To Develop Your Short Story Into A Novel - Writer's Relief, Inc. http://ow.ly/RMZce
Writability : Do Writers Need Social Media? http://ow.ly/RMZfB- 6 Proven Tips for Getting into the “Write” Mood http://ow.ly/RMZlF
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