Telling can be great when it’s purposeful and used to connect readers to your main character. And it is telling, but it’s the good kind. I think a lot of writers become scared by interiority because it feels like telling. For example, characters might clench their fists (they’re angry!) or might sweat like a pig (because they’re nervous), but there’s no deeper dig into their emotions and it makes it really hard to connect. A lot of times characters use showing of emotion in place of interiority, which makes for a very distanced reading. Okay, not any time, of course-you want to use it purposefully. So below, I want to go into a little more detail about how and when to use interiority.īasically, you want to use interiority any time your character has a reaction, interest, curiosity, emotion, or, well, a thought about something. But interiority is so important because it does a lot of work in helping readers better understand your POV (point of view) characters and their actions. Why am I doing a whole blog post about this? Well, previously, I wrote a post about getting agents and readers hooked on your characters, and one of the most important ways to get readers into the minds of your characters so they can get invested is using interiority.Ī lot of times, when I edit manuscripts, I notice writers have trouble with interiority and using it in the right places. Interiority is actually really simple: it’s the thoughts that go through your character’s mind. WTF is interiority? (This might be what you’re thinking after reading the title of this blog post).

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow