Character introspection or introspective scenes can be a tightrope routine. This post is to hold your hand through the worry of it being Too Much, because you need that, especially since that fear and that possibility are never going away.
There is always a risk of getting too into it/wangsty/heavy/indulgent, and that’s a risk you can’t ever totally erase, either. Some readers are gonna think that no matter what. Some readers aren’t. Don’t let that fear stop you, first of all!
(Also, some people just skip lines. You can lead a horse to water and all that.)
THAT SAID.
I personally have never had a huge issue writing introspective bits—but my last two biggest projects were very conversational in tone, and I think that really helped! Think about what your narrative style is like. There is a difference in approaching this if you have a clean, distant narrative versus a messy, close-up one. (Neither is inherently better; use what feels best to you and serves the story best.)
In my experience, it takes awhile for you to find your groove with a story, so if you’re in the beginning, don’t stress about it not feeling 100% Perfectly Fitted Right. It’ll come with a bit of time spent with the story!
Also, as a quick note: rambling can serve a narrative. But in very specific instances.
Keep in mind the technical side of things—if you have a character whose thoughts start to spiral, that a) slows down the reading speed, b) means you need to focus on their reaction until this moment passes, possibly to the exclusion of other action/things, c) it CAN be useful.
Lots of short lines and repetition are pretty common for shock moments; the thing that comes to mind first is the “no no no” of a character who is in complete, paralyzing disbelief about something that happened. That can segue into further introspective stuff.
Of course, as with everything, be careful how you use it. Use those jarring, fast, quick bits too much or often, or for certain things when you know Bigger, More Important things are coming, that’s probably not the best idea. You need to pick your battles.
As for slowing down the narrative re: introspection—for less thrilling sequences, give your character(s) (and readers!) time to breathe.
Find a quiet lull. Have them take a drive, let them be alone, let them be falling asleep, give them a moment where there’s a perfectly valid excuse for their thoughts to wander and thus let the narrative wander with them. If you want to devote a paragraph to a character’s thoughts, that’s totally fine, but make sure it fits!
And possibly most importantly: LET THE INTROSPECTIVE BITS MEAN SOMETHING!
That doesn’t mean you have to casually drop a huge plot bomb in the middle of someone thinking about their grocery list. (Maybe don’t do that at all, even if it’d be hilariously great to see pulled off correctly.)
Pure introspection bits are usually used to show readers a character’s frame of mind, and truthfully, you don’t need much more than that. Plot should move roughly forward at all times, but that doesn’t mean Action Action Action—your characters are your plot, too.
I can never perfectly recall bit of advice, but it went something like “all story stuff must move along the story with outside action or reveal something about a character with inside things”. (Please don’t think that’s how the source phrased it, they were much better, I’m sure.)
Letting readers know how the characters are doing, what they’re thinking, how they’re feeling, what they’re planning next—these are also vital parts of a story. Plot is outside and inside a character, in parts that change with every scene, chapter, and project. Don’t let everything happen outside your character all the time. It can work, but readers are just as glad to see what’s going on in the inside, too!
