There’s rhythm in prose. The rhythm might be intentionally terse, like a Charles Bukowski novel, or dense and languid like the work of Donna Tartt. It may be precise, like the style of academic journals, or punchy like a hard-boiled detective novel.
In this article, I’ll go over what stream-of-consciousness writing is, explore some key characteristics with examples from great authors, and I’ll offer you a Story Weapon with some tips to help you develop a deeper understanding of what your story is about.
Stream-of-consciousness writing is a narrative technique that captures a character’s unfiltered flow of thoughts, using fragmentation, repetition, and inventive language to reveal inner life and meaning. When used intentionally, it deepens voice, emotional truth, and reader immersion.
Definition of stream-of-consciousness
Stream-of-consciousness writing is a narrative technique in a story where the narrator’s stream of thoughts is expressed as it flows through their mind. Their inner reactions to the events of the plot are how we learn about what’s happening in this writing form. We dip into their stream of thinking, filled with opinions, emotions, gibberish. The result is a free-associative flow of personality.
To get a better sense of how you can try it yourself, let’s take a look at the hallmarks of this technique and a few examples.
“Hundreds of butterflies flitted in and out of sight like short-lived punctuation marks in a stream of consciousness without beginning or end.”
– Haruki Murakami
Key characteristics
Fragmentation
Although the things we say aloud tend to be (for the most part) coherent, the sounds and rhythms of our mind tend to be more disjointed. Language is only part of internal processing; a mind might conjure up an idea that’s experienced partly as language, partly as image, and partly as sound. Put together, that’s a memory.
When we participate in stream-of-consciousness writing, we’re attempting to mimic this disjointed flow of language that plays in our heads. The things your character thinks are probably fragmented as well.
Here’s a line from James Joyce’s Ulysses that expresses that disjointed flow:
“I mustn’t forget his letter for the press. And after? The Ship, half twelve. By the way go easy with that money like a good young imbecile. Yes, I must.”
Innovative use of punctuation
One of the aspects of stream-of-consciousness writing is employing punctuation differently than standard modes of literature. Why is this?
Punctuation has been invented and standardized to send ideas in a consistent format. We know the pause when we approach a comma, and the voice in our head does just that. We know a period signals the end of a statement and an exclamation point means the voice in our head goes up at the end! The question mark, arguably, does something similar? It’s helpful to have these rhythm and auditory cues.
When we’re visiting someone’s scrambled mind, however, they don’t need to clean up the rhythm to be comprehensible. They can fly off the handle and untether themselves from the traditional patterns of punctuation; in the best of cases, this leads the writer to some beautiful and unique constructions of language.
Here’s an example from The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. Faulkner uses no punctuation at all when showing the reader the stream of Benjy’s consciousness, which differs greatly from everyone else’s. Benjy is mentally challenged and, rather than showing us from the outside how that makes him act, Faulkner shows us Benjy’s inside mind to demonstrate what makes him different.
yes I hate him I would die for him I’ve already died for him I die for him over and over again everytime this goes
when I lifted my hand I could still feel crisscrossed twigs and grass burning into the palm
poor Quentin
she leaned back on her arms her hands locked about her knees
youve never done that have you
what done what
that what I have what I did
yes yes lots of times with lots of girls
Repetition
Another hallmark of this form of writing is repetition. If one half of thinking is reason, the other is surely rhyme. Just like we get a song stuck in our heads, your characters can get certain sounds or words stuck in loops. It adds some structure to the form, which is pretty devoid of structure.
We can differentiate from sections in a story by what words, names, or sounds are repeated.
Here’s a great example from James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake. Note also the looseness with spelling:
Tip. This is the flag of the Prooshious, the Cap and Soracer. This is the bullet that byng the flag ofthe Prooshious. This is the ffrinch that fi re on the Bull that bang the flag of the Prooshious. Saloos the Crossgunn! Up with your pike and fork! Tip. (Bullsfoot! Fine!) This is the triplewon hat of Lipoleum. Tip. Lipoleumhat. This is the Willingdone on his same white harse, the Cokenhape. Th is is the big Sraughter Willingdone, grand and magentic in his goldtin spurs and his ironed dux and his quarterbrass woodyshoes and his magnate’s gharters and his bangkok’s best and goliar’s goloshes and his pulluponeasyan wartrews. This is his big wide harse. Tip.
Voice at the forefront
A key aspect of this form of writing is a clear expression of the narrator’s voice.
Character is always a part of writing and particularly so for stream-of-consciousness writing. In the best cases, the language is unmistakably unique to the character whose consciousness we’re visiting.
The form also provides more flexibility with spelling and word choice, as it’s more concerned with how the words sound (being in the character’s head) than how they look.
Here’s a great example from On the Road by Irvine Welsh:
Ah wis dripping like a saturated sponge, every step bringing another gush fae ma pores. Sick Boy wis probably even worse, but the cunt was beginning no tae exist fir us. Ah wis only aware ay him slouching tae a halt oan the banister in front ay us, because he wis blocking ma route tae Johnny’s and the skag. He wis struggling fir breath, haudin grimly oantay the railing, looking as if he wis gaunnae spew intae the stairwell.
Your story weapon: Dos and Don’ts
DO differentiate
It can be tempting to just make the monologue on paper sound like you; after all, how would anyone know that your voice and the character’s voice are remarkably similar? By picking specific language and thought patterns that are unique to your character’s background, you free yourself up to be more honest than you could be in your voice.
You’ll be surprised at the revelations that come about when you put the words in someone else’s voice.
DON’T mistake stream-of-consciousness for inner monologue
Although the two techniques are similar, there’s a key difference that makes stream-of-consciousness writing its own form of literature.
While inner monologue shows up in many forms of writing, it’s distinct in that the language is still formulated in the way we speak. It’s like your thoughts when you’re focused and thinking actively; you probably use clearer language.
In stream-of-consciousness writing, we’re hearing the thoughts as the character is focused on something else. That’s where the more creative uses of punctuation and spelling come in.
DO be bold
Stream-of-consciousness writing is a recognized and celebrated form of literature these days. Its literary definition appeared way after writers were doing it. It entered the world of literary criticism in 1918, but writers throughout the 1800s were participating in the form. You’ll be in good company; those writers include names like Poe and Tolstoy.
The lesson to take from this? Experimentation is welcome in literature. Odds are, if it looks too bold or weird to work, you’ve got something worth trying. It’s the only way innovation happens.
DON’T restrict yourself to one form of writing
There are great examples of books where stream-of-consciousness writing is the only way the story is told (like Notes from the Underground by Dostevsky). That said, a majority of stories that employ the technique nest it in sections written more formally. It might be a way to represent different narrators (like in The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner) or a way to signal a descent into madness (like in Death in Venice by Thomas Mann). It might just be a way to keep things interesting as the story progresses. It’s totally up to you!
If you begin to feel that there’s information the reader needs that the narration can’t capture, you can include sections written from another perspective before dipping back into the stream.
Have some fun creating your stream-of-consciousness narration! It’s one of the most liberating techniques to use and can really free you up from obsessing over word choice. Once you have the character in mind, you can just let it rip and type as fast as possible (or write longhand, which I prefer for this method). You’ll fill those pages up in no time.
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