What kind of internal-monologue do you prefer more?

[BlackKnightX]

Aight, let’s get to the point. As we all know, there are two types of internal-monologue in novel: direct and indirect.

For example:

Direct Internal-Monologue: the character’s thinking directly
1. What is happening to me? Why does my body feel so… weird..? (Use italics to indicate the thought.)
2. ‘What is happening to me? Why does my body feel so… weird..?’ (Use ‘’ to indicate the thought.)

Indirect Internal-Monologue: the narrator narrates the character’s thoughts
1. What was happening to me? Why did my body feel so… weird…? (In 1st person POV, past tense.)
2. What was happening to him? Why did his body feel so… weird…? (In 3rd person POV, past tense.)

There you go. There are a lot more to it than that, depends on the POVs and the tenses used, but here’s a general idea.

So, what kind of internal-monologue do you prefer?

And don’t give me that crap about I prefer both of them, both of them have their uses, I can’t decide, a little bit of both, blah-blah-blah…

Allow me to change my question, then; “which one of the internal-monologue can you tolerate more without breaking your immersion?“

There, that’s better.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Direct.

 

[BlackKnightX]

Direct.

Yeah, I believe you. Your answer is pretty direct~ lol

 

[Mandark]

I like direct, with both ‘ and italics if the character is feeling weird/distressed.

Drop the italics if it’s just a regular thought.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Yeah, I believe you. Your answer is pretty direct~ lol

To be fair, I don't see that much of a difference. English isn't my native language, so I really don't care about the more intricate elements of grammar. As long as the grammar is decent and it's easy to read\translate, I'm good. Choosing direct was more of a coin toss rather than my personal preference.

 

[BlackKnightX]

To be fair, I don't see that much of a difference. English isn't my native language, so I really don't care about the more intricate elements of grammar. As long as the grammar is decent and it's easy to read\translate, I'm good. Choosing direct was more of a coin toss rather than my personal preference.

I get you. In my perspective, though, direct monologue kind of gives off the feeling of watching anime, where you can hear the character’s thoughts directly, but that can be just a niche thing and not for everyone.

 

[greyblob]

these are literally the same. it's just that one is italicized and the other is not.

 

[BlackKnightX]

these are literally the same. it's just that one is italicized and the other is not.

It’s the same thought, yeah, but it’s not technically the same. I mean, if you can read all of that without seeing any difference, then I think there’s no problem using any of them.

 

[Minx]

Be direct, just like I did with my confession to my crush, which of course with me being rejected at the end.

 

[BlackKnightX]

Be direct, just like I did with my confession to my crush, which of course with me being rejected at the end.

So you’re saying be direct if you want to be rejected by your reader, right? I hear ya~ lol