Monologuing

[Devon.Q.Ly]

Hi Guys,

Question, monologuing in writing.
1. Good or bad in general?
If you have any book where a writer does this would love to hear about it.


Also, I have established characters who have thought passages so the reader can hear what they are thinking.
But this character who monologues never gets a spoken response or thought response from his "imaginary friend." Is this too much in contrast with the fact that with most of the the other point of views characters you can at least hear their thoughts?

Thanks a ton
-Dev

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Patrick Rothfuss does it a bit in The Name of The wind to tell stories. And Louis de Berniere uses a lot of monologues in Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Mandras and Il Duce both rely on them a lot.

I think a lot lies with the skill of the writer. If they're done well, i like them, but they can drag. Pacing is key, I think. But, mostly, I can live without them.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I've used it at the beginning of Ill-Born as I needed to develop character with someone who does not meet the other characters until later on. I needed to show an irreverent personality. I think it worked well and I got positive feedback.

In another story, one of my characters talks to himself when he passes mirrors.

It's all in the execution. I'd recommend writing it, and then gathering feedback from betas

pH

 

[Bowler1]

Ok if done well I'd say too, but a problem if not. To be fair however - I've always found writing when a character is alone the most difficult for me and I can do dialogue and character interaction all day long. So I would say experiment and play, learn by trying something new and if you have an idea you'd like to try, what have you got to lose? If you can't get it to work, then at least you'll know. Good luck with it.

 

[J Riff]

SuperVillians and bad guys in general, have to monologue - to give the MC hero time to escape from his bonds and save everyone.