Think Deep: Showing Compelling Inner Worlds for Characters

I was talking with one of my writer friends yesterday and she was complaining about how difficult getting into her characters' heads could be. It wasn't that she didn't know what they were thinking, she just had trouble showing it to readers. Trouble with interiority is much more common that you might imagine.

Mindfulness from Wix

What is interiority? It's basically just what it sounds like: what's going on in the mind of the character. Their perspective, their inner worlds. Remember, two people can stand next to each other and see the same thing, but we all have our own lifetimes of experiences, fears, priorities, values, biases, and hopes to slant how we actually interpret what we are seeing.

Why do we care about having our readers understand our characters' inner worlds? Because it's a great way for them to connect with our characters. To understand them, their inner lives, and the choices they are making. This includes not just heroes but villains, anti-heroes, and morally gray main characters. Not all your readers are going to love them. But you want your reader to understand the thoughts and emotions behind all the actions your characters take. And you want to make sure your readers are invested in your character and their choices, obstacles and the outcomes of the situation enough that they keep reading to find out what happens!

When we read a book, we want to read about what's going on in the minds of the characters to help us interpret their actions. So as writers, how do we do that?

Make a list

If you find interiority is something you struggle with, maybe you don't want to consciously worry about it on your first (or even second) draft. As the great Terry Pratchett said, "The first draft is just you telling yourself the story." So anything you know you're going to have to work hard on, leave yourself a note and move on. That's what later drafts are for.

When you start thinking about what kinds of things to include, why not make a list until you get the hang of it?

• Who (or what) is a character paying attention to (or not)

• Why is a character saying/doing something (be specific!)

• What are their expectations in a particular situation? (What do they feel after it does/doesn't happen?)

• What are their feelings about something (be specific- and know why!)

• What does your character want to remain private (why do they want that? Will it happen?)

Feel free to add to these starter ideas as you go, and as your story and characters need you to!

Actions

If you have trouble with interiority, you may be using physical actions and sensations to convey emotions. This is a good place to start, and using all five sense where possible is always good practice. But once you've got that written down, in your next round of edits, ask yourself:What else? What could be under those physical reactions?

What if you have a character who's a nervous public speaker and he has to give a speech in front of a crowd. You could focus on how he feels: the pounding of his heart, the rush of blood or a ringing sound in his ears. There are all kinds of physicall sensations that let us know that he's nervous. Now get creative. If this was a movie, how would the actor show the nerves without using words? Is he holding notes or a paper cup? Maybe he folds it smaller and smaller or tears it into tiny peices of confetti. An outside viewer seeing that destroyed paper knows when the speaker is onstage that they were dealing with nerves backstage. And you didn't mention his pounding heart once.

Thoughts

Harder for some is describing getting into our nervous speaker's mind. What's he thinking about? Is he thinking clearly at all or is it stream of conscious babble? Is he worried his ex will be in the audience and he'll trip and look like an idiot? Is this speech the last step to a big promotion and he's worried he'll fail? Or maybe he falls into a memory of being a kid and something happened that made him hate public speaking. What are the stakes or worst-case scenarios, the specific thoughts that might be going through his head before he gets on that stage? You know the plot and the stakes for your character. If you're having trouble choosing, make some notes and come back in the next round of edits to see what sounds right.

Remember, no book is written in just one draft.

The hope with great interiority is not only that your readers will connect with your characters, but that they'll experience the story you're telling as well. They'll inhabit your character's minds and experience the highs and lows as your characters do. I don't think this is a writing skill that comes easily to anyone. The only way to get there is by lots of practice. Ask friends what books they've read that have pulled them inside characters. Make lists of those books and study them the way you would any other writing craft book.

Then be patient and write on. You'll get there.

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