Writing Craft
The most interesting character thinking is often the bit you don’t spell out. Not because mystery is fashionable, but because people rarely announce the real thing they are doing. They notice the cracked mug, the text they haven’t answered, the way someone else has started saying sorry too quickly. Then they translate the feeling into something safer.
On the page, too much interiority can flatten that. Too little, and the character becomes a camera with opinions. The useful middle is usually where they are busy avoiding the truth in a way only a reader can spot.
On the page, too much interiority can flatten that. Too little, and the character becomes a camera with opinions. The useful middle is usually where they are busy avoiding the truth in a way only a reader can spot.
Interior thought can be overdone, certainly, but the opposite problem is tidier than the page usually is. People don’t just dodge the truth in neat symbolic ways. They also bore themselves, get distracted, misread the room, and think about lunch. A bit of that mess often tells you more than a carefully managed hint ever will.