Character Thoughts and How to Show Them

Why It’s Important In Fiction Writing

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Character thoughts for fiction stories.

At some point, we all know you’ll have to write about what your characters are thinking.

You might not know how to write those thoughts clearly and without disrupting the flow of your story.

Writing Character Thoughts

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

First, how do you usually write their direct thoughts? Italics? Bold? Quotation marks? Some other fashion? Most likely, your answer is yes to at least one of these.

Well, italics are the general default for relaying character monologues. You see them everywhere, whether the book is self-published or traditionally published.

While there’s nothing wrong with using them, if used to express your M.C.’s thoughts, italics can pull you from the flow of the story. And as an avid reader, I can express how annoying that is.

But what if I said there was a less jarring way to do it?

Happy to say there is.

Other Ways To Express Thoughts

You don’t need to use any of it for character monologue. Yes, you read that correctly. It acts as an unnecessary barrier between the character and the reader, something I don’t like reading or writing.

Instead, try to integrate what the character is thinking right into the story by just saying what they’re thinking. I know it may sound confusing. How will the reader see the difference between thought and story?

Well, you can do it, and you will be able to hear the voice.

Example One:

The boy played in the backyard, wondering how tall the big tree was next to the fence and if he could climb up. He readied himself to run up the side until he caught the lowest branch, curious what would Mom think.

Example Two:

The boy played in the backyard. How tall was the big tree? Could he climb it? He readied himself to run up the…