Interiority is one of those things that a book can do masterfully, but a movie can’t. While in movies you can see what characters do, sometimes you may not understand why. A camera can’t show thoughts, but in a book with good interiority, every action makes sense.
However, how do you know you’re spending way too much time in your character’s head? And when does it become rambling instead of insight?
In this article, let’s talk about what interiority is, how to keep it from turning into rambling, and how to use it when things start moving fast.
Table of contents
What is interiority in writing?
How do you tell interiority from rambling?
How much interiority do you need when the pace picks up?
Author’s note ✍
Hey !
If you’ve been following long enough, you’ll know that this article is part of a three-part question (that I split into four articles) from @myjewishbookshelf. You can check those articles below:
“Start late, leave early” advice
Character interiority (the one you’re reading right now)
In the beginning, she wanted me to write one article containing all these topics. But unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on how you see it), I tend to overdo things, so I split it into four articles, each with its own angle and research.
Narrative Baggage started because I wanted to document what I was learning while writing my first book. And a lot of your questions ended up helping me with my book.
So… if there’s a topic you’d like me to cover, or you just feel like saying “hi!”, send me a DM or drop it in the comments.
Thanks for all the questions, dude! Now let’s get into it.
What is interiority in writing?
Interiority is when you, as the reader, have access to what’s going on in the POV character’s head. However, interiority isn’t just about thoughts. As you may deduce from the term, interiority is everything that can be described as internal (shocking, I know).
Mary Kole, a former literary agent and now founder of Mary Kole Editorial, defines interiority as the POV character’s:
Thoughts
Feelings
Expectations
Internal reactions
And inner struggle
This means interiority doesn’t include physical reactions, dialogue or, well, anything external. Anything that you or another person in the room could “see” or “hear” in the book is external.
Here’s an example to make it clearer.
Without interiority: he opened the cabinet and frowned as he kept examining the multiple bottles and magical elements.
With interiority: he opened the cabinet and frowned. Victoria had better not have taken his invisibility mixture… AGAIN. He kept examining the multiple bottles and magical elements. She always took it without his permission and didn’t have the decency to refill it.
Here, the first version is just narration. But the second version tells us more about our POV character. It hints at his relationship with Victoria and shows us his mood. That’s something a camera can’t show.
A camera tip 🎥
If you’re not sure whether something is just narration or interiority, just imagine a camera. Would a camera show you what you’re writing about? Or do you need to be inside the character’s head to know it?
If a camera can catch it, it’s narration (or body language). If only your character could know it, it’s interiority.
How do you tell interiority from rambling?
Interiority gives your readers something new, while rambling gives them something they already have. When you’re inside a character’s head, you would, ideally, learn something new to keep piecing things together.
Rambling can show up in three ways:
It repeats the action. For example, he slams the cabinet shut, then thinks about how angry he is. The thing is, slamming the cabinet already tells us he’s angry.
It says the same thing… several times. For example, he was angry, his blood was boiling, and he couldn’t believe how mad he was.
It wanders. For example, the character is in an important confrontation and proceeds to drift to a memory that has nothing to do with what’s happening, pulling the reader out of the scene.
A real insight, or well, interiority, tells you what you can’t get from our imaginary camera. Why he’s acting this way, what he’s planning, or that what he’s thinking doesn’t match what he’s saying.
So, when you reread an interiority section, ask yourself:
If I cut this, would my reader lose anything from the story?
If not, it’s rambling.
If they’d lose a secret, a reason, or a decision, it’s interiority.
A note on body language 💪
Sometimes body language is enough, and you may not need interiority. But it’s only enough when the reader already knows why the character feels that way.
If, going back to the previous example, Victoria stole our character’s invisibility mixture (again), and your reader already knows the context, then a slammed cabinet says it all.
You may need a thought when:
The reason isn’t obvious from the scene
The reaction could mean more than one thing (the frown from the example can be from anger or confusion OR worry)
What the character feels doesn’t match what he’s showing
If a scene feels like it’s missing something, look for the moment where your reader can’t tell why. That’s where a line of interiority goes.
How much interiority do you need when the pace picks up?
You don’t necessarily need less interiority when the pace picks up, like maybe in fight scenes or the final arc. But you do need shorter interiority.
At the start of your book, readers don’t know your character yet. They need interiority to understand how they think, which is why early chapters (or the first book in a series) have more interiority, and later on you may need less.
In fast scenes or when the pace picks up, interiority is shorter because readers already know the character, so even a fragment is enough for them to understand their train of thought (with enough context, of course).
For example, back to Victoria and the cabinet, it could be something like:
The invisibility bottle was nowhere to be found. Victoria.
However, you can save longer thoughts for after the fast scenes, in what we could call a breather scene, when all the action is over. There, the character has the opportunity for longer reflections without interrupting your reader’s flow in crucial moments.
Interiority should give your reader what they can’t figure out on their own. At the beginning of your book, that’s a lot. By the end, they know your character well enough to read between the lines.
And scene
If you made it this far, you’re probably one of those readers who 100% their book. So, thank you for bearing with me until the end :)
If you found this article helpful (either as a writer or a lurker), consider following along as I figure out how to actually write that book.
Take care and keep writing. ✍️