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Character Introspection

Introspection is one of many tools in a writer’s belt to help make a character come alive. By letting the reader into the character’s head, you’re able to create a shared experience between the character and the audience. This form of empathy is what creates a strong bond between story and reader, allowing them to feel as if they are really there and part of the action. This is what drives your audience to continue reading your tale or, in the form of roleplay, allows your partner to feel immersed in the story that you are creating together.


For some, introspection is one of the most difficult concepts to grasp when it comes to writing. It’s one of those things that calls upon your ability to empathize, place yourself in someone else’s shoes, and in some cases forces you to step out of your comfort zone. For others, it comes naturally.


Introspection, in a simplified definition, is the examination of your own thoughts and emotions. When it comes to writing, it’s acknowledgement of a character’s innermost thoughts and feelings and how they’re handling the situation you’ve placed them into. It’s an inner monologue explaining their motives, reasonings, and reaction to the external stimuli going on around them. For more information on how to handle reactions to stimuli based on your character’s unique history, check out the article <here> on character psychology.



Why should I include this in my writing?


Introspection is one of many tools that can be used to connect your audience with your character. Think of the last time you watched a movie or television show and felt particularly engrossed in a specific character’s story. Maybe you felt embarrassed when they did, or perhaps when something bad happened to them, you cried. This sort of empathy typically happens when you feel a bond between yourself and a character. In writing, the intention is to create this same sort of emotional connection that keeps you wanting to read more and learn more about the character.


It’s also a way to give a character depth. This depth makes them more believable and brings them to life. When a character has thoughts, feelings, and opinions on things that are happening in the past, present, and future or when they draw upon memories to react to a situation, it often makes them seem more human. For example, consider the difference between a robot and an AI. They’re both non-human mechanical creations, but when you think of a robot, you think of an inanimate machine that only does what it is programmed to do. However, when you think of an AI you’re considering the fact that they are a learning program that can react to stimuli on their own. You want your character to be an AI, not a robot; they should be able to learn from their mistakes and triumphs.


I want to make a note that not all writers choose to include introspection as a way of communicating their character’s emotions and thoughts. There are other ways to do this, and choosing to include this particular form of internalized process is entirely up to the author. It depends a lot on what you’re looking to communicate. It may work well in some places and not in others. The main goal, for those that do utilize this tool, is to provide a more realistic and visceral experience of what it’s like to be the character.


It’s also important to remember that too much of a good thing is still too much and can actually have the opposite effect, ruining your reader’s sense of immersion.



How do I bring introspection into my writing?


There’s a lot of ways to do this, and like with all things relating to creative writing, there’s really no right way to include it. Introspection has a lot to do with a character’s desires and motivations. Without knowing what is driving your character forward, it’s really difficult to include their inner thoughts and feelings on a given subject. If you’re struggling with character wants/needs, check out <this link> for an article that includes questions to ask yourself regarding what drives your character.


You, yourself, have thoughts throughout the day. It may be as simple as “I’m hungry,” or it may be as complex as, “I am disappointed in myself because I didn’t finish everything on my to do list.” Both of these are technically forms of introspection. However, one is rooted in a specific source; your stomach may be growling, telling your brain that it’s time to eat. The other is rooted more in your internal thoughts and emotions. This didn’t come from a “source” so much as it came from you. Similarly, introspection is just your character and their thoughts, rather than your character and their actions or speech.


If you’re not struggling with character motivation, then there’s plenty to explore regarding the types of introspection and stylistic choices an author can make. Introspection is utilized as a way to fill in the gaps of what you can’t see, hear, or engage with in a given setting or scene. You can do this through internal thoughts, emotions, memories, and reaction to stimuli. Unfortunately, a lot of this is also done using an author’s specific voice, as well as the character’s.


Voice is an ever-evolving creature that changes as time goes on. An author’s voice is unique to them. It may be their word choices, the cadence to their words, or the phrases that they use; it can even be the things that they choose to describe or not in a story. Oftentimes, the authors that you read and the media you are exposed to will heavily influence your own stylistic choices. It’s okay to pick and choose from the styles you’re exposed to in order to help you form your own.


An author’s voice is the lens from which they are narrating their tale, and this can greatly affect a character’s view on their world. The lens can also shift between characters. If you’ve read any story where the main character flips from one to the other, consider how the chapters or viewpoints may have looked different depending upon which character was the main one in that moment.


As an example, here’s the same scene from three different points of view. One from a narrator and one from each of the characters in the scene:


  1. The sound of their swords rang out across the courtyard, heavy breaths from the contestants and cheers from the crowd broken only by the repeated clash of metal. She brought her blade down against his, quick on her feet, and he was nearly too slow as he parried her blow. Cheers rose up behind them once again, the undefeated champion their hopeful winner between the pair. The underdog moved forward, fast as a viper, and this time managed to draw blood. The crowd let out a collective gasp, their champion wounded, though he continued to fight as if it were nothing more than a scratch.

  2. She was tiring quickly, limbs heavy as she danced forward, locked in their battle. Even though she was the underdog in this fight, she felt as if she had something to prove not only to herself but to the onlookers as well. The cheers as he successfully parried her blow and the boos from the crowd when she lurched forward to strike again spurred her on for no reason other than spite. Finally, her sword hit something other than steel and she was rewarded with red across her blade and shocked gasps from behind her. She ignored the latter, taking the opportunity to push forward with a new determination.

  3. He couldn’t stop, couldn’t slow as his feet moved beneath him in practiced movements. The sound of the crowd was drowned out by the rushing of blood in his ears, the adrenaline of a fight one of his favorite parts. The newcomer before him was lithe and quick, a benefit against his own bulky frame, but he was certain that he would not lose his title to a woman. How she had even managed to get a spot in the ring, he wasn’t sure, but she was certainly proving herself to be a refreshing challenge. Surprise colored his features as she managed to land a blow, blood welling against the cut in his shoulder. A smile broke out across his face as he adjusted his grip on his sword, no longer playing games for the entertainment of the onlookers.


As you can see, the tone and feeling of the scene shifts dependent upon who is the main focus. When it’s just the narrator’s point of view, you lose the feeling of empathy and draw toward the characters themselves. When you’re seeing things from the lens of a specific character, you’re pulled into their specific storyline and emotions in the moment. This is a mix of both voice (the shifting focus of “I must prove myself” versus “this is a game to me”) and introspection, but it gives a good idea into how different characters can have different thoughts and feelings about the same thing. The shifting tone is a more subtle form of introspection that lends itself to context clues more so than explicitly stating something. This is a more “show, don’t tell” style that most nonfiction writers prefer.


As far as how to decide what a character is thinking or how to actually go about formulating your character’s thoughts, it goes back to not just their motivations but also their backstory. You need to consider what is relevant to the scene at hand and how their past experiences can affect them in the moment. Just as your character’s actions come about as a natural consequence to their external stimuli, so should their thoughts and feelings.


Rather than starting a post by thinking “my character is going to think about this,” try to weave their thoughts in with the action of the story. If your partner has done their job and set up the scene to both leave room for your character to react and progress the story forward, it should be easy for you to fill in the blanks they’ve left for you. Part of introspection is that if it’s done right, it should flow seamlessly in with your post and be difficult to pick out on its own. The idea is to compare your character’s experience both internally and externally in the same breath. There’s no need to separate these into two individual reactions because they’re happening at the same time for the same reason.


Ideally, introspection should communicate something that can’t be communicated through just action.



There’s an art to assumption.


In some cases, heavy reliance on a character’s internal emotion can throw someone off; in others, the rationalization of actions speaks volumes. Like I said in the last section, if introspection is done right, it should be almost nearly impossible to isolate it on its own. The use of context clues and emotive cues are your friend. There are certain aspects of social interaction that most people will be able to pick up on, given the situation. You want to use these cues to your benefit.


Also remember that not all introspection needs to focus on the past experiences of the character. You can just as easily focus on fleeting feelings in the moment or the internal turmoil a character is having from needing to make a decision. If your character is naturally indecisive, being put on the spot and forced to make a choice may have them panicking internally about choosing the wrong one, despite there being little consequence to either option. It’s a valid and common visceral response; many people will be able to empathize with this particular moment in the character’s life. Not every reaction needs to be particularly impactful for it to be a meaningful inclusion.


When you’re writing in a roleplay setting, it’s important to include details that your partner can respond to and will move the story forward. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t include emotion and thought: two things that aren’t necessarily something you can directly react to. What you can react to, however, is the physical cue associated with a particular emotion. In this way, you are creating a connection between your character’s thoughts and their actions. That’s why context clues are so vital.


In day to day, it’s likely that you run into friends, family, or strangers and interact with them. While you have no idea what they’re thinking, you can often take a guess depending on their body movements and facial expressions. Although they may not actually state that they’re annoyed, you can assume their feelings by the purse of their lips or the crossing of their arms; they may not say that they’re happy to see you, but the smile on their face says it for them. In this way, although we are not mind readers, we still have a pretty good idea of what’s going on inside that person’s head.


This is why context clues and accurate depiction of body language is necessary in descriptive writing. Along the same vein, if a character is thinking about how upset they are, it may show on their face whether or not you have explicitly stated that. Utilizing introspection allows your partner to make that assumption without you needing to say it and gives the other character a small insight into how yours is feeling.


Just as you can infer and make assumptions about someone’s mood based on their expressions, an author can set the mood or tone of a scene by letting you into their character’s head.



How do I know if I’m using too much introspection in my writing?


No one wants to read several paragraphs of someone else’s character droning on internally when they’re not able to react to it. Writing an entire scene from your character’s perspective is fine, but when there’s little action for your partner to react to is when it becomes a problem. Save internal monologues for one shot scenes that you write on your own. Instead, focus on asking yourself the following questions regarding your inclusion of introspection:


• Does this communicate something about my character?

• Is this something that hasn’t yet been learned?

• Will this help your audience gain insight to something else happening in the story?

• What is the purpose of including this, as far as the story is concerned?


As a general rule of thumb, if what you want to include doesn’t add anything to the story, you probably shouldn’t include it. This goes for not only introspection, but detail and outside information as well. If the thoughts and emotions you want to communicate won’t actually add anything to the scene or the plot as a whole, it’s probably unnecessary. Like everything, how much is too much and how much is too little is a delicate balance of both having your own voice and knowing your audience.



Things to Avoid:


The two biggest issues that often come into play when heavy introspection is used are characters understanding too much about themselves and omnipresent writing. Both of these are detrimental in different ways. One pulls the reader out of the story and the other takes away a writer’s agency.


When a character is too knowledgeable about their own shortcomings, it stops feeling realistic. Unless you’ve spent a lot of time with a psychologist picking apart your brain, it’s likely that you don’t know everything about yourself or how your mind works, either. Your character can come to conclusions based on their past experiences, but it’s not likely they’ll be able to analyze the deeper reasonings of their choices on the fly. Equally possible, your character may make a decision without considering all sides of the equation and go with their gut without any further explanation. People make mistakes and sometimes we come to conclusions that are wrong; it’s perfectly acceptable to have consequences to not understanding how our brains work. That’s part of what makes us human.


Giving away too much through a character’s thoughts can start to blur the lines between what an author knows and what their character knows. It’s at this point that you, or your partner, can start to fall into a sort of “omnipresent” writing, where one character inadvertently knows what the other is thinking. While this may be frustrating for you, it’s likely that it was a genuine mistake. If you find this happens frequently, you may want to consider how much information you’re giving away in a character’s thoughts versus what your character is actually saying. It’s likely your partner misremembered thoughts as dialogue because they felt like you weren’t giving enough actual information for their character to pick up on, leaving them largely in the dark. As roleplay is a collaborative medium, you need to be mindful of what you’re giving your partner to respond to, just as your partner needs to react in a manner that gives you the same opportunity to advance the story.


Introspection is a useful tool, but it’s important not to overuse it. It can quickly become a problem if your character is doing more thinking than telling, as that can stall the story progression or take away a surprise element you had intended to introduce later. Be mindful of what you’re letting your reader know ahead of time; a good rule of thumb is to never include information that you wouldn’t want used in the present time.



The biggest thing to remember about introspection is that it’s intended to make a character feel more realistic. In the same way you have thoughts, feelings, and memories -- so does your character. You can use your daily experiences to help color your character’s world and use them as a reference point for how they might feel in a similar moment. At the heart of this concept, you are forcing your audience to feel empathy toward your character because you’re allowing your reader to understand their emotions on a visceral and relatable level. After all, your job as a writer is to keep the interest of your intended target and make them feel like they’re part of the story.


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