 Drama: July 27, 2016 Issue [#7764] |
  Drama
This week: The Importance of a Character's Mind Edited by: Joy  
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“In displaying the psychology of your characters, minute particulars are essential. God save us from vague generalizations!"
― Anton Chekhov
“One of the most dangerous of literary ventures is the little, shy, unimportant heroine whom none of the other characters value. The danger is that your readers may agree with the other characters.”
― C.S. Lewis
“You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are.”
― Joss Whedon
“...it's not the stories - it's the pain and the joy and the people who stay with you long after the stories are told ...”
― John Geddes, A Familiar Rain
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue is about showing the thoughts and feelings of our characters.
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
Note: In the editorial, I refer to third person singular as he, to also mean the female gender, because I don't like to use they or he/she. |
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
As much as we value logic and reason, in our world emotion and likewise passion have the upper hand. This is mostly the way we choose our actions and arrive at decisions. Thoughts do control emotions, but emotions control thoughts, too. Emotion, then, is the connection and the payoff in the workings of the human mind.
People, in general, and fictional characters, in particular, help, hate, love, aid, and destroy one another because of their passions and emotions. When emotion works well, the reader becomes the character and feels what he feels. Yet, how do we capture this emotion without being maudlin and melodramatic?
In written stories, the mind reaches a much higher level of intimacy than the stage or the movies. As powerful and resourceful as the actors and the directors may be, they cannot show the depths of a character’s private thoughts and emotions and his mind’s secret life. Such thoughts and feelings reveal a lot about the character. For example, a character may be having desperate, agitated thoughts while acting perfectly calm on the outside. The written story, therefore, is the one tool that portrays the mind most effectively.
Since the mind leads the body and we think with language, we need to keep open the doors to our characters’ minds, at all times. Some stories and writers may not show the greater complexity of the mind, every time. Others may use this showing in different degrees. Still others let the characters speak what’s on their minds. In any case, to identify with and relate to the characters, the readers must have a connection to the minds of the characters. The deeper the connection, the stronger the impact of the story will be.
One way to show the character’s mind is through inner dialogue, which is the conversation of the character with himself. This conversation with its most intimate language is only heard by the character, the writer, and the reader, but not the other characters in the story.
For the writer to convey the thoughts and emotions of the character in a scene the following concepts may help a writer:
 Make the character the scene’s viewpoint character.
Use only the thoughts and the inner dialogue that is relevant to the plot. If you try to show the entire workings of anyone’s mind, your story will drag.
Style or the use of the italics for thoughts: Most people have different opinions on this.
1.Instead of italics, you may also use separate paragraphs for feelings and thoughts, as well.
2.Writing thoughts without italics may appear to be the least intrusive, but it may not always be the best choice. Still, in first person or very deep third person narration italics may be eliminated if the readers know and feel they are already inside the character’s head.
3.In the third person narration, italics do well to show thoughts and inner dialogue. This will separate the inner dialogue and thoughts from the spoken language.
4.In specifically omniscient point of view, the thoughts and feelings of the narrator, especially if he is opinionated, and the characters may get mixed up; therefore, it is strongly advised to use italics for thoughts.
5.Italics, in any case, are sometimes used with or without dialogue tags. Without tags is the more advisable one.
Most writers make use of the character’s mind to a lesser or a higher degree. Those who make use of the higher degree do it with know-how and respect for the plot and the reader’s understanding are the successful ones. May we all fall into the latter category! 
Until next time!
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 This Issue's Tip: Having someone do something then give up on it, such as writing a love letter and then tearing it apart, brings about a reversal of emotions and is highly effective for creating emotion in the character and in the reader.
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Feedback for "How to Fix a Flawed Pacing"
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Marci Missing Everyone 
Thanks so much for this great information on pacing!!! Another way to pace your scenes is to think about word length and sentence length. A fast paced scene works better with short words and choppy sentences while a slower scene can take longer sentences and more description. I loved the suggestions you made about writing a scene from a different POV and writing a fight scene in reverse to see how it works. Thanks again!!!
Thanks for the feedback, Marcie.
Yes, word and sentence lengths have a lot to do with pacing.
I am glad you found the editorial helpful
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okirichris
I find this newsletter piece, and guides very helpful, myself. A writer friend of mine have been at a loggerheads with one of her characters which seem to have a mind of its own. I am sure sharing this piece with her will help her understand these little people called characters better. Thank you for making this timely piece available.
Thanks for the input.
I'm glad you liked the newsletter and found that it would help a friend.
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