Stream of Consciousness

ccv707 · Apr 28, 2009

Just curious on who else here uses stream of consciousness in their work. Ever since I wrote my first novel-length ms, I've employed this narrative style. I find that using the characters own thought processes makes the story more interesting to follow--it increases the intensity of the fast-paced scenes, and helps to flesh out the quieter moments when the characters stop speaking.

I understand that most people here already know what stream of consciousness is, both the narrative style and the psychology term, which are two sides of the same coin really. However, for those who aren't quite sure, here's a link...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_of_consciousness_(narrative_mode)

Cyia · Apr 28, 2009

I definitely do. And your reasoning is almost verbatim what one of the agents who read my MS said about how SoC intensified the action/suspense of the story.

backslashbaby · Apr 28, 2009

I love SoC and enjoy using it in works. My current WIP can't have too much of it for various reasons, but it's still there (SoC Lite

).

CheyElizabeth · Apr 28, 2009

Yes! this is my favorite way to write.. I feel that it makes the story wayyy more interesting.

I didn't know this is what it was called, so thanks for the info =)

C.M.C. · Apr 28, 2009

I've tried it before, but it doesn't allow me to write with the density and flourish that I like.

Cybernaught · Apr 28, 2009

I've read enough Joyce to know I really don't want to read (let alone write) him anymore.

Jimmy McAdams · Apr 28, 2009

I do this, as well. I feel this method is better than planning everything out with too many details, since the characters' actions were always the best way of shaping the action scenes and story for me.

BravoYankee · Apr 28, 2009

I definitely like to use it. Helps the MC build his "character", plus its very fun to write.

Matera the Mad · Apr 28, 2009

The Wikipedia link goes to a page that doesn't exist. Eithier it mutated that fast, or...

Judg · Apr 28, 2009

Or it needed the parentheses closed at the end...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_of_consciousness_(narrative_mode)

ccarver30 · Apr 28, 2009

I have never heard of this yet I use it. LOL

ElsaM · Apr 28, 2009

Sorry if this is a silly question, but I'm not familiar with the term. What's the difference between stream of consciousness narration and first person perspective? Is there any? I had a look at the wikipedia article and it's still not clear to me.

backslashbaby · Apr 29, 2009

[See link to source at bottom]

There are variations, but the ideas are more rambling than usually found in other forms of narrative. I don't know if it's good practice to do this less heavy-handedly (as I do), but you can see that different authors do it different ways:

A further example of stream of consciousness is found in I Stand Here Ironing, by Tillie Olsen.

You do not guess how new and uneasy her tenancy in her now-loveliness. You did not know her all those years she was thought homely, or see her poring over her baby pictures, making me tell her over and over how beautirful she had been-and would be, I would tell her-and was now to the seeing eye.

Olsen describes the thoughts running through a mother's head concerning her daughter. The thoughts flow in a pattern reminiscent of how thoughts run through the human mind.

Stream of consciousness is also found in a sample of David Kaplan's, Doe Season.

They were the same woods that lay behind her house, and they stretch all the way to here, she thought, for miles and miles, longer than I could walk in a day, or a week even, but they are still the same woods. The though made her feel good: it was like thinking of God; it was like thinking of the space between here and the moon; it was like thinking of all the foreign countries from her geography book where even now Andy knew, people were going to bed, while they-she and her father and Charlie Spoon and Mac, Charlie's eleven-year-old son-were driving deeper into the Pennsylvania countryside, to go hunting.

In this situation, like the others, a person's thoughts are represented by many sentences related by the fact that they are connected by a stream of logic, one thought neccesarily leading to the next, and stemming from, the previous.

[my bolding]

http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:JGfhAsyh5s0J:www.northern.edu/benkertl/short_fiction_dictionary.html+stream+of+consciousness+example&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Kateri · Apr 29, 2009

I also write SOC. I thought it was a form of babbling. I feel better now. Thanks for all the great info. and links everyone.

ccv707 · Apr 29, 2009

Well, many all-time great writers have employed this narrative technique, and one can hardly say William Faulkner babbles!

I didn't know about it when I first started writing about twelve years ago, but I always used it. It wasn't until a few years later when I was reading probably the most insightful book on the craft of writing, On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner, where he discusses it in great detail, that I understood.

I believe it creates more personal characters, and allows you to reveal certain levels of character development without having to spell things out--in the process patronizing and alienating readers AND belittling your own skills.

Willowmound · Apr 29, 2009

I just wanted to say, I don't.

SarahMacManus · Apr 29, 2009

I use it, but not heavy-handedly, I hope.

White-Tean · Apr 29, 2009

I always use SoC (though like backslashbaby mine is more SoC Lite). I mean, I can't necessarily use it well yet and not make it clunky (occasionally mine bogs down the story and diverts things too much which is what I'm working on) but it's great for advancing my sci-fi story which is very character driven. Plus the story is also a bit of caper and cleverness for all that it takes itself quite seriously, and I think it's good to give readers hints of exactly how clever a small number of the characters are - although I'm writing my first draft only from one viewpoint in order to get a better handle on the MC because her motivations and decisions (though we don't see all of them) are integral to the story.

backslashbaby · Apr 29, 2009

I think it is wonderful when used in a story it fits, but it has its drawbacks, too.

imho:

-- It can be hard to fit into the overall voice of a work that has a lot of "plot" or dialogue.

-- It can be difficult to tell what is happening. Is it similar to poetry in a good way, or does it take the reader out of the story if he has to re-read particularly vague parts? (I love vague, btw, in the right work).

-- It doesn't fit all POVs

The voice and POV issues are why it's not the right fit for my current WIP. And the vagueness, although I hope to have enough SoC in there to capitalize on that mysteriousness while pulling the reader close in some parts. Dunno! It might not fit at all, darnit.

ccarver30 · Apr 29, 2009

Kateri said:
I also write SOC. I thought it was a form of babbling. I feel better now. Thanks for all the great info. and links everyone.

LOL Me too! I'm glad it has a real definition.

NatJM · Apr 29, 2009

I use it very sporadically. I have read a few badly written stories using this device so I don't quite trust it/myself with using it.

ccv707 · Apr 29, 2009

Well, it's up to the writer to keep things from being too vague. If it's done right, it won't bog the story down or be too confusing to follow along.

ElsaM · Apr 29, 2009

Thanks for the explanation, backslashbaby. I don't think I use it at the moment, but I'd be interested in trying it out. Maybe in my next short story.

LAWolf · Apr 29, 2009

Doesn't fit my style. I personally struggle when reading SoC, but there's some works of SoC that I really enjoyed.

Izz · Apr 29, 2009

I use it if it fits the story or the character from whose viewpoint the story (or that part of it) is being told. If it doesn't fit, then i don't use it.

It's basically the same reason that i enjoy mayo with my scrambled eggs, but don't enjoy chocolate sauce with them. But i love chocolate sauce with my icecream, but mayo not so much.

It's all about whether it adds or detracts to the story-telling experience of that particular story.

Stream of Consciousness

He who asks, "Why?"

Rewriting My Destiny

~~~~*~~~~

My horn can pierce the sky!

Archetype

Decker

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

DISENCHANTED coming soon

Nicole Castro

lurker extraordinaire

~~~~*~~~~

He who asks, "Why?"

Lightly salted

Illustration Student

~~~~*~~~~

Nicole Castro

He who asks, "Why?"

lurker extraordinaire

Doing the Space Operatic

*

*

*