Daily Writing Tip — Jul 7, 2026
Interiority isn't just the character's internal thoughts. It's the character THINKING about those thoughts. Dissecting his impressions of the world.
Interiority isn't just the character's internal thoughts. It's the character THINKING about those thoughts. Dissecting his impressions of the world.
The reason this works is that raw thought only shows what a character notices, while thinking about the thought shows what they value, fear, or refuse to admit. That second layer is where personality lives. Say a character sees an old friend across the street and thinks, "I should say hello." Interiority pushes further: he wonders why the thought felt like an obligation rather than a wish, and what that reveals about how the friendship quietly curdled. Now the moment carries history and self-awareness, not just observation.
The caution is that this trick is seasoning, not the meal. If every stray impression gets unpacked and cross-examined, the character stops living in the scene and starts narrating a seminar. Let some thoughts pass unexamined so the examined ones actually land.
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