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Not necessarily, but the propensity to indulge in internal monologue is itself a character trait. Fundamentally, the way we assess the character of someone in fiction is the same a how we assess th...
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#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2020-01-03T20:41:56Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/33019 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T07:51:19Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/33019 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
System
·
2019-12-08T07:51:19Z (almost 5 years ago)
Not necessarily, but the propensity to indulge in internal monologue is itself a character trait. Fundamentally, the way we assess the character of someone in fiction is the same a how we assess their character in life: by their actions. Sometimes it makes sense to shortcut the process of establishing character by telling us directly some aspect of the character's character, but even that is best done by telling us how the typically act (as opposed to dramatizing a whole scene). So, if you show a character's internal monologue, readers will interpret that first and foremost as a piece of behavior and will judge first and foremost that indulging in internal monologue is a character trait of the person. Will the content of that internal monologue also reveal aspects of their character? Sure. But you have to treat that in context of the broader effect of showing all that internal monologue. If you use it to reveal a character who is not contemplative by nature, the dissonance will be obvious and will undermine what you are trying to achieve.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2018-02-04T15:44:43Z (almost 7 years ago)
Original score: 6