Stream of Consciousness

What is it?

Stream of consciousness writing is a variant of the third person point of view, in which the narrator relates only what is experienced by a character’s mind from moment to moment.

What are some common characteristics of the stream of consciousness style of writing?

·        It presents life as a thought process (an interior monologue)

·        It has a story line that revolves around one main character who is developed into a very believable person both emotionally and physically through his or her actions and thoughts

·        The ideas in a stream of consciousness text are presented as thoughts of this character throughout the narrative

·        It is often considered to be a writing style that is wandering, unstable, harsh, fast-paced, and introspective because the reader is receiving the ramblings of the internal thoughts of the character

·        It often focuses on sensations of our bodies and of the objects around us, memories of past experiences and thoughts of distant things, feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, desires and aversions and other emotional conditions, together with determinants of the will in every variety of permutation and combination