My main character talks to herself.

LiadanTD · Apr 11, 2007

I have been writing stories since I was about 10 years old and now have decided to try a novel. I am new to these forums and have read a lot of great information over the past few days, but I haven't come across a post regarding a character like this.

She usually argues with herself, actually. How do I portray this? Most of the time all of it happens in her head. I normally italicize thoughts, but it could be confusing when there are two conflicting thoughts going on.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

seun · Apr 12, 2007

I think most writers put thoughts in italics so you're probably OK in that regard. If she's arguing with herself, you could just make it clear she's the only person thinking at that time especially as anything else would be head-hopping. One thing to bear in mind is not to overdo it. It could end up as a simple character quirk that doesn't develop plot or personality if all she does is talk to herself.

Are you able to post a short sample either here or in the Share Your Work forum?

Shadow_Ferret · Apr 12, 2007

I'm assuming it's third persion, because if it was first person, well, they always talk to themselves.

Like sean said, use italics to indicate thoughts. However, italics are indicated by underlines in your manuscript. Confused yet?

Jane stepped off the curb and a speeding car almost hit her.

I am such an idiot.I could have been killed! Jane thought as she watched the car splash some pedestrians further down the block. Ha! At least I'm not wet.

Claudia Gray · Apr 12, 2007

My gut would be to add line breaks.

Why do I have to go pick Sylvie up? She's already put us all through enough -- can't she catch a cab?

Oh, right, that's really classy. Make Sylvie catch a cab. She's ready to make amends, so why aren't you? Stop being so petty.

Maybe she's ready to make amends. Maybe she's just here to make things worse. Either way, I don't see why she runs off to Paris without a word and two years later, I'm the one who has to put on a raincoat and boots and sit in traffic for an hour to bring her home.

The faster you start, the sooner you get it over with. So would you get in the car already?

(For what it's worth, I use italics in my manuscript -- the underlining rule originated when word processing technology was not so nifty as it is now. I don't think underlining is a problem, but I've used italics as italics throughout my process, and both agent and editor have been fine with it.)

Maryn · Apr 12, 2007

It's not clear to me--is your MC talking to herself aloud? That might require a different tack than if it's all in her head.

If it is aloud and it's giving you trouble, consider adding a thing, living or not, that she talks to: her goldfish, her mother's ashes, the TV... A receiver makes it flow easier, and can always be removed in a later draft once the talk-to-herself monologue is already there.

Maryn, who talks to herself out loud, on occasion

David I · Apr 12, 2007

Italics are okay, but a sea of italics can be a bit annoying.

Have you considered casting it in first person?

FredCharles · Apr 12, 2007

I have a character like this too. He hears voices. Maybe you can give the voice that she is arguing with a specific personallity or name. Stephen King did this in his novel, The Shining. The kids psychic powers took the form of a person named Tony.

LiadanTD · Apr 12, 2007

Thanks everyone for your replies! Yes it is in 3rd person and all in her head. She has a bunch of demons in the closet to sort through from her past. One part of her is brutally honest and says things that the other part of her is too scared to say aloud or unwilling to realize.

It is a character quirk that gives the reader insight to what she is wrestling with, but only to an extent. 97% of her conversation is with another actual person

As for the italics in the manuscript...I hate using underlines in their place. I keep forgetting so I end up going back afterwards to switch the italics to underlines. I suppose I'll get used to it in a little while though and whatever I miss now I'll pick up during my revisions.

LiadanTD · Apr 12, 2007

Oh yes, I do have another question. I used MS Word '03 which has nifty Auto Correct options, like when I type ellipses (. . .) it changes them to (...) is it okay for Word to format like this or should I turn off this option?

Also, when I am typing something with an ellipse, I thought I read somewhere on these boards that an extra (.) should be used in certain circumstances - is this true or part of my imagination?

Thanks again for all your help!

AnnieColleen · Apr 12, 2007

Turn off the autocorrect, since the special characters can cause problems with electronic submissions. (You should also turn it off for curly quotes, apostrophes, etc.)

If I remember correctly, the extra . should be used when the ellipsis falls at the end of a sentence, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Re italics: go ahead and use italics for now, then do a search-and-replace when you're done. (Word lets you search-and-replace formatting only -- pretty nifty.)

LiadanTD · Apr 12, 2007

In Re: Auto Correct

I've read a few posts regarding the Auto Correct feature in Word (what a hot topic!!) for smart quotes, em-dashes, etc. I personally like the way they look but I understand many have said they aren't compatible with every publisher's standards.

I am wondering, is it easier to go from smart quotes/dashes to "dumb", or dumb to smart after the fact? I want to make the transition back and forth if necessary as painless as possible on my end.

AnnieColleen · Apr 12, 2007

lol at the hot topic -- I guess it could be, couldn't it! (It's more an issue in relation to electronic submissions than publishers standards, would be my guess.)

I've done search and replace to go from 'smart' to 'dumb' quotes; never tried it in reverse. I don't know that it would work in reverse, since for the 'dumb' version there's only one symbol; would the program be able to tell which to replace with opening & which with closing quotes?

For other symbols, em-dashes etc., it's equally easy in either direction. I personally wouldn't want to keep switching, though, since knowing me I'd be sure to forget something or wind up replacing something I shouldn't have.

LiadanTD · Apr 12, 2007

Thanks Annie for all your help...it is much appreciated!

My main character talks to herself.

LiadanTD

seun

Horror Man

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

Claudia Gray

Maryn

I Tried

David I

FredCharles

LiadanTD

LiadanTD

AnnieColleen

Invisible Writer

LiadanTD

AnnieColleen

Invisible Writer

LiadanTD