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It is not necessary to tag these thoughts in first, second, or third person narration. In third person narration, the unattributed thought or narrative embodiment of the speaker's voice is called f...
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#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T02:30:16Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/6254 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
Brett Cassette
·
2019-12-08T02:30:16Z (almost 5 years ago)
It is not necessary to tag these thoughts in first, second, or third person narration. In third person narration, the unattributed thought or narrative embodiment of the speaker's voice is called free indirect discourse, and James Wood writes about it extensively in early sections of _How Fiction Works._ The examples you've given could be rewritten as: > The whole thing sounded a bit strange. How had she gotten my number anyway? Had Maria called? My mother--? In this way, the speaker's dialogue and confusion are allowed to live in the narration itself--as if the reader is speaking with the person as opposed to the author. The reader innately understands this style (it is very common in modern literature), and since the reader doesn't need your cues to signal them along, the cues sound pedantic, if not amateur.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2012-08-25T09:25:49Z (about 12 years ago)
Original score: 12