#character interiority

I don't particularly enjoy writing where it says "she felt this and she felt that and her heart was beating really fast and how would she feel if this and that, and oh, if he only knew that she felt such and such!" I think such naked statements have their place, but too much of it ruins it for me as a reader. I'm just being told what they feel instead of feeling it myself, which is not my preference.

So then my instinct is to go the opposite direction, and show it through framing and environment and action and dialogue (obliquely), but then I fear falling into the trap of writing my story like a movie, which it is not. I don't want to leave out my character's interiority all together.

So, I wrestle with this a lot. I go back and forth, deleting and retrying and trying again, scene by scene.

Here's some unsolicited writing advice inspired by manuscripts I have to review/improve: A character having doubts is not the same thing as a character having depth.

Sometimes it is depth. Other times, it looks like they're holding up a sign to the audience saying: PLEASE UNDERSTAND I'M MORALLY COMPLICATED PLEASE DO NOT THINK I'M BAD PLEASE CLAP FOR MY CONSCIENCE

Not that self-pitying is a problem by itself. A character may be reactive on purpose. But I can tell when it's not intended, and so can readers. I get it. Writers are afraid of their characters being misunderstood or... gasps... not likeable enough. And nowadays they may also feel pressure to signal their character's virtue, or signpost that something doesn't 100% represent their own beliefs.

But if the character keeps doubting, monologuing, asking whether they're doing the right thing, and then keeps doing the exact same thing anyway, they may read as more annoying than tragic.

Let characters make choices.

Let them believe in those choices.

Let the consequences come when due.

Hi guys! This premises of this topic is something that I've been thinking about for the past week, and I thought that this week, I will delve a bit more into this topic and discuss on how the character's voice, or character interiority can be explored in your writing!