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The one thing that distinguishes a novel from a film based on that novel is the reader being privy to the main character's thoughts. This unique instance, actually knowing what is going on in that character's head, how she perceives circumstances and what she is feeling is what draws the reader into the story. Thus a character's thoughts are most important in fiction writing in order to form a connection between the reader and the character. Without this the reader will invariably move onto another book, or - heaven forbid!- watch the movie.

The question now turns to how we make our fictional character's thoughts matter to the story. To do this you must understand how we humans react to life. If you are like anyone else on the planet you have a running commentary in your own head from the moment you get up in the morning and possibly even before that if the alarm clock wakes you out of a nice dream. Your head may have been abuzz with activity all night. You awaken, roll over and thoughts instantly pop in your head. "What am I going to do today?", "Wonder if it will rain", "Will I get to work on time for a change?" may be some things going through your mind. Whether you voice them to thin air, your spouse, your dog or not at all is not irrelevant. They are your thoughts of how you see the world.

Knowing this you can see that your character will have the same struggles in her own head. "If I wear the sexy outfit I'll get a date tonight", "I better have a decent breakfast at home or I'll end up grabbing a donut later and there goes my diet", "What an idiot! Driving into that divider. Shouldn't be flirting with me if he can't drive at the same time. Too bad. He was kinda cute and he had a nice car" could all be going through the character's brain but only when you show these thoughts will the reader grasp what kind of woman she is, a body-conscious, thoughtless woman obsessed with men.

Whatever is going on in the character's life, whatever you make happen in your story that is, will make her react to it. But how we react to things may greatly differ from what we're thinking. The character, in the same way, could be smiling most banally to her boss as he stacks files onto her desk telling her they have to get done before she can leave for the day. Her thoughts, however, could be akin to wanting to strangle the beastly man for keeping her late when she had to get home to get ready for her date.

The only way for the character's annoyance to be portrayed in

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