In an article for Writer’s Digest, Audrey Wick says internal dialogue can reveal a lot about your characters. “Internal dialogue are lines typically in first person that express a character’s thoughts,” she explains. These lines are generally set in italics without quotation marks to separate them from spoken dialogue.
Whether you use internal dialogue depends on your writing style and the mood of your story. Neither using nor avoiding it is preferable, but a matter of choice. However, if you choose to use this approach, Wick has a few tips:
- Don’t use internal dialogue as filler. Don’t merely repeat information you’ve already written in narration.
- Keep it simple. “Cut out unnecessary words,” Wick says. “For instance, instead of the line I knew that I wanted the job, have the character express I wanted the job. Excess words can make the internal dialogue murky.”
- Handle dialect uses with care. If your character uses dialect or slang, be consistent throughout your manuscript.
