Did you know some people don't have inner monologues? Some individuals go throughout life without a voice in their head constantly commenting on what's happening.
In this episode of A Book and A Dream, Megan O'Russell explores the world of fiction through characters' inner monologues, and imagines a world of writing in which no inner monologues exist.
Prefer videos to audio only? Visit my Instagram @orussellmegan.
Did you know some people don't have inner monologues? Some individuals go throughout life without a voice in their head constantly commenting on what's happening.
In this episode of A Book and A Dream, Megan O'Russell explores the world of fiction through characters' inner monologues, and imagines a world of writing in which no inner monologues exist.
Prefer videos to audio only? Visit my Instagram @orussellmegan.
I would say,"Oh, expletive that I won't use right now, a knife." Because that's how my brain works. Welcome to a book and a dream with Megan O'Russell: An Author's Adventure in Writing, Reading, and Being an Epic Fan Girl. Hello, my name is Megan O'Russell and welcome to episode 14 of A Book and a Dream. Today I wanted to talk to you about internal monologues. Now it's sort of been around social media a lot lately. There was a big tweet where a gentleman pointed out that not everyone has an internal monologue. Now that is a very strange concept to me because I definitely have a very active internal monologue. I talk to myself in my head all the time. I don't really understand what it would be like to not hear my own thoughts. I've done some reading up on it and apparently people see concepts or images, which is very cool and I can picture it as an author like writing someone who does that, but I can't picture that actually going on in my own head and as an author. Internal monologues are very important to me, not just because it's how I plot things or how I test out dialogue and descriptions when I'm writing, but also because I use internal monologues in my books. So it was a little scary to me to figure out that not everyone thinks that way. It was, it was crazy. I just automatically assumed that that was everyone, which is my fault, you know, I shouldn't assume that, but it had never occurred to me that it would be different. So when I'm writing a third person point of view book, and that for me would be the tethering series, the growth glass series, the Kronos, the close of Maggie Trent. It's mostly told from a outside perspective. So you're looking in and occasionally there'll be little snippets of thought thrown in. Usually in a Tallix. It's a device that you see in lots of books. I like writing in the third person because it gives me the opportunity to see more. It's easier to have more than one point of view. It's easier to see things that are slightly out of range. Um, but it doesn't give you that super intimate feel that writing in first person does. And that's how I wrote Bryant Adams in how I magically messed up my life and four fucking days and the and the Taylor, Brian Adams series and how Anna avail Braya is written as well. So Ember and stone mountain and Ash. Those, I love writing their internal monologues because when you're writing in the first person, at least to me that's 60% of the book. That's all the descriptions. I'll the transitions from one scene to another. It's really internal monologue. Which brings me to the question of what about people who don't have internal monologues, if you don't have an internal monologue and then you see an internal monologue, like one of those little italicized snippets and a book, does it translate? Do you, does it make sense? What's happening that they're actually speaking those words in their head and if you're reading a first person point of view book, does it read like an internal monologue to you? Does it read maybe more like a diary entry? It's seriously, my mind is blown that that wouldn't necessarily translate so readily for everyone. And I love first-person because it is more intimate and it is more immediate. Everything you see is happening to that person. It is within their scope of vision. So if something is happening behind the back of someone and you're writing in first person and then you lose that information because it is that immediacy personal, you're not going to know there's a knife behind your back until you see it where you get stabbed. So if we're looking at it that way, and this is, this is a dialogue that I've been having with myself lately. If you were someone with no internal monologue and you found out there was a knife coming for your back, let's say there's a mirror. Okay? So you're, you're in a room, there's a mirror in front of you. You're like chilling out. I dunno, we'll, we'll have you putting on mascara. You're standing there and you're putting on mascara, you're doing your thing and all of a sudden there's a knife glinting over your shoulder. Now in my head I would say, Oh expletive that I won't use right now a knife because that's how my brain works. But if you didn't have words in your head, would it just zoom in on the knife? Like like a cyborg. So you like zooming in on the problem or would you get like a, a flash image of like blood and knives or would you just be more focused on the situation and therefore more likely to survive because you're not interrupting your mascara to think Oh, a knife and then reacting to the knife. You're just straight from mascara to knife. How does that work and how would change how we write first person? I don't, I don't necessarily know if it can be done. If you are considering first-person as a thought process, a thought pattern and not um, like a hand written out after the fact or if you're doing like first person present tense, someone writing out as they go. How would you write that? Is there a book that is written in that format? I have looked it up. I have not been able to find one. I have not been able to locate a book that is written in the first person, but without the use of an internal monologue and I want to find one. I want to explore this concept. I don't think that I'm necessarily the right author to jump into that. I have such a strong internal monologue. I think I could write a character, a short story. I don't know if I could successfully write a full book or an entire series without any internal monologue. I, I don't know how that would work. I just can't. I can't picture it and I want to read it so badly. So if you know of a book that is written in that way, please let me know. So now that I had a slight meltdown about what would happen if no one had internal monologues and how anyone could even write that, one of the things that I love about writing first person is getting to choose what the internal monologue is going to sound like because the thoughts, and at least in my head because I have an internal monologue, are so intimate. They are so desperately me that getting to pull out that super, almost sacred voice from my character where it is their most intimate thoughts, the things that they wouldn't say out loud and you are laying them bare for the reader. Now, Brian Adams is closest to my internal monologue. If you haven't read the Bryant Adams series, it's very tongue in cheek, very sarcastic, very, I'm not self-deprecating, but definitely like understanding of the fact that he is not in fact the hero and 99% of his, his type of situations and has very little control over whether or not he's going to die. He thinks, Oh, so this is how I die. I think seven times within the first two books and I think that a lot. Maybe that's just my internal monologue being negative, but there are many situations I found myself in where I'm like, Oh, so this is how I die. Not what I expected, but okay, has it happened yet? So I guess my internal voice is a little bit off with predicting my own death, but those are the thoughts. Bryant also much like me describes things in overly enthusiastic detail in his head. The girl that he has a crush on isn't just the beautiful girl. She's the girl with the sparkly diamond dies, which I also do in my head and out loud. I forget the name for something and I will just start giving you overly enthusiastic adjectives until you can figure out what I mean. I also have a tendency to name animals, weird things in my head like puppy mix, squish bud or leash rat. There is a leash rat in our neighborhood. It's, it's a leash rat that's not a dog. It's a leash rat anyway, and the internal monologue is different from mine in that she is less sarcastic and is less tongue in cheek and how she looks at life and death and things like that. But what I love about writing and his voice is how much you get to see the pain that she's feeling, the fear that she's feeling that none of the other people around her are privy to. She doesn't tell them when she's scared, when she's hurt, when she's grieving. She doesn't share those things. But because you are in her head with her as she narrates these experiences, you are given that knowledge, which is really cool. As an author it's a really amazing way to bring the reader deeper into the story. And one of the most interesting things about writing and a story was figuring out exactly what point in time is she recounting this story because it is first person point of view, past tense. So when in her timeline is she taking the time to tell this story. And I'm not going to tell you exactly when the timeline is because I don't like spoilers, but it is very definitive. And so the way she States her knowledge always comes from that place in her life where she has for knowledge and is dictating her life to you. And I don't know how you would do that without an internal monologue. I, I just don't understand. And I am so grateful that I have an internal monologue and that writing in someone else's internal monologue is so not easy. Writing is never easy, but it comes naturally to me that that patter and that process is already in place. So of all a giant kudos to writers who write an internal monologues while not having an internal monologue. I have no idea how you could make that translation and readers out there have you, if you don't have an internal monologue, is it ever jarring to you to see it in a book to see it written out? Does it automatically translate? Do you know what's happening or does it seem like a a weird little tropey author trick to you and also has anyone found that mysterious book where there's internal thoughts that don't come out as monologue? I would. It's fascinating to me. I desperately want to read it. So if you have found that, please drop the title the author, if you know it, the color of the book cover, if that's all you've got, drop it in the comments below. Let me know because this is fascinating. An absolutely mind blowing to me. If you want to know what my internal monologue really is like on a day to day basis, check out how I magically messed out my life and for friggen days, cause that's pretty spot on. F you would like a more serious internal monologue with, you know, deep emotions head on over to Ember and stone. But let me know if you found that mysterious thoughts, his images book, because I am so fascinated. Don't forget to like, subscribe, follow, whatever your preferred platform tells you to do so that you can find me next time. There is some very exciting news coming down the pike, so don't miss it. And I will see you all on the next episode of a book in a dream.