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think about agents anymore than the starlet would think about baking apple pies. Internal dialogue must FIT the character in question.

There's also the usage of a character's thoughts to drive the story forward. Think of them as a way to cross a bridge with broken spans. Interior dialogue can be written to cover the one or two holes in your logic and/or plot. Re-writing pages and pages in order to cover small patches is unnecessary. Create interior dialogue, savings time, tired fingers [from typing], and headaches. It also removes the compulsion you may feel to use the old "looking in the mirror to let the reader in on the scene" ploy.

I cannot tell you how many times I've read an author describe a character by using a mirror. It is so much easier to read a character thinking "Damn I'm a good-looking guy. This jacket is sharp. These new contacts make my eyes look so blue", then it is to read about ALL his attributes via that mirror device. All a reader needs is the minimal amount to let him/her know what makes a character unique. Whatever these characters think should be unique unto them as well.

Lots of back-story the reader doesn't really need, flashbacks that slow the rising story, or plot progression, and other artificial devices are no longer necessary once characters are fleshed out properly.

Again, which would you rather "hear"? A character running for a train thinking about how his life [action within the plot] is ruined, or how he ended up with black hair due to great grandparents from Germany? The racing thoughts in the character's head as he runs for the train moves your story moves from point A to B; the hair color on the other hand, has nothing to do with anything.

Just remember when writing fiction, that what you use as a character's thoughts matters greatly; it's the difference between professional and amateur story-telling; the difference between readers loving your work or seeing it as unrealistic; it can add or take story action away, and needs your focus to get just right. It's the difference between "Wow!" and "whoa!" every time you write.

Learn more about this author, Lisa Beach.
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