Written by Isabelle Spotts, author of Saint Delilah, a paranormal thriller novel published on August 11th.
Every writer has a unique starting point when the time comes to sit down and write their novel. There’s always that moment of conception—when the idea, the vibe, the scene, the itch in your brain that can only be scratched by storytelling first appears—but the actual starting point, those first words, those early and earnest chapters, will be vastly different for each of us.
For me, there’s one thing I always prioritize before I even touch my laptop or title my blank document with the hopeful word novel —a quiet wish for what my next idea will become—and that is interiority, specifically the creation and development of it. In my debut novel, Saint Delilah, a deeply emotional story exploring the complicated thoughts, fears, and yearnings of a young woman who is already dead, along with the secrets of those who once knew her, honest and complex interiority was my top priority.
What is Interiority?
Interiority involves the internal thoughts and emotions of your point-of-view characters. It’s not what they say to each other or how they physically interact, although these moments can give us clues about their inner thoughts. Interiority is the emotional, sometimes conflicted, sometimes messy, and unique state of your character’s mind. In my opinion, interiority is a large part of what makes a character truly memorable for a reader. But how do you create a character with believable and, most importantly, honest interiority?
Building Your Character’s Inner World
For as much time as can be spent crafting perfect plot twists or creating wholly original worlds, I like to begin by building my characters’ inner world. This could involve writing an entire backstory that only appears in glimpses in the finished book. It might mean researching details about their hometown or geographical area—the birds they watched from their bedroom window as a child, for example, only for the character to end up haunted by their morning songs—or even something outside the realm of writing, such as creating mood boards and playlists (I like to obsessively listen to the same song over and over if I think it fits my character…but that’s just me), and spending time daydreaming about who this character is, what they most desire, who they might be in my life if I met them, how I would interact with them, and, most importantly, how they might interact with me. Some writers make lists of their character’s quirks, scars, and desires, but after spending time with them (a few weeks at least), I find none of that is necessary. When they finally make their way onto the page, they know who they are, and when I dip into their thoughts or reveal their emotions, it flows naturally and organically.
Keeping Interiority in Check
While I think interiority is arguably the most important part of a novel, and I enjoy reading and writing it immensely, a book with too much interiority can suffer from pacing issues and sometimes feel overwrought with emotional direction, where the author tells the reader what to feel instead of letting them come to their own conclusions. Just because interiority is important does not mean it needs to be heavy-handed; in fact, well-placed and minimal interiority can be just as, if not more, impactful as those point-of-view characters whose inner monologues go on for pages. It can be a matter of style for the writer, sure, but even more so, I think it’s about knowing your character well, as I mentioned before. Maybe your character wouldn’t allow themselves to indulge in such internal thoughts, and that becomes part of their mystery or trauma, or maybe you’ve got a character who’s so stuck in their own head all they do is internalize everything, and when it’s time to interact with other characters, they fall flat. I like to make it a character choice!
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, each of us will prioritize what we think is most important for our novels—whether that’s plotting, world-building, or inner world-building—and that’s fine! We’ll all have make it through each of these hurdles in the process, no matter what, because together they make a novel. But for me, I think I’ll always start with my characters first, because they are the heart of the story, and they have to be born from somewhere. They have to be realized, and they have to (no matter how honorable or deplorable some of them may be) come alive on the page. Spending time crafting who they are, and their innermost thoughts is time that I’d say is well spent.
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