Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Thought Process

Thought Process

A writer, as a human being, understands the difference between themselves and those around them. A Reader understands the same thing. That is the basic human model of interrelationships. We are onto ourselves the central character in our lives. When a reader picks up a novel they enter vicariously into the mind of the Central Character (CC) in the novel. If they can’t find the CC, or the CC arrives late on the scene or not at all... or there are a host of supporting characters none of who seems to qualify as the CC, the reader often becomes confused or loses interest. Despite this, many good novels are successful despite having a flaw in this regard.

One of the rules of thumb in writing a story is that only the thinking of the CC is revealed to the readers. Why do you suppose that is…? duh! It is because only a human being knows what is going on inside their minds and of course a reader who has entered that vicarious relationship. It is amazing how many good tactical writers fail to grasp this simple construct.

So ideally we show the CC doing the thinking and the supporting characters, responding with words or body language. The supporting characters do not reveal what they are actually thinking. One exception is telepathy which is something I write about but which requires the reader to become quickly brought up to speed on how that particular mind process works.