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Intro
Within writing, stream of consciousness narration is one of the more difficult narrative techniques. By the end of this blog post, you will better understand what this style is and how to use it in your own writing.
What is Stream of Consciousness
So, what is stream of consciousness? According to Britannica’s article “Stream of Consciousness,” a stream of consciousness is a
“narrative technique in nondramatic fiction intended to render the flow of myriad impressions—visual, auditory, physical, associative, and subliminal—that impinge on the consciousness of an individual and form part of the character’s awareness along with the trend of the character’s rational thoughts.”
Stream of consciousness, ultimately, tells a story through a character’s mental dialogue. Through this narrative, as a writer, you can experiment with sensual details and give the reader a chance at understanding why your character acts the way they do.
For more advice to help you develop your characters, check out the blog post below!
Understanding Stream of Consciousness
Stream of consciousness, interestingly, was first created in psychology. Accordingly to NeuroLaunch’s article, “Stream of Consciousness Psychology: Exploring the Flow of Thoughts and Perceptions,”
“The stream of consciousness is the continuous, uninterrupted flow of thoughts, sensations, images, memories, and feelings that constitutes our inner mental life. Not a parade of neat, orderly ideas, more like a river where everything moves at once, currents running beneath currents.”
Novels were written first structured to be linear, with characters who articulated their motivations clearly and their personalities were confessed to the reader until, in 1890, The Principles of Psychology was published, written by William James.
Modernism
After WWI, the rapid shift toward industrialization, capitalism, and scientific and social advancements led to a new sense of detachment from the past Victorian beliefs in morality and convention, and a more optimistic outlook on life.
Then, the new belief was that consciousness is not a linked chain of concrete, individual ideas but a flowing river of continuous sensations, memories, and ideas.
As Modernism rose, authors began to use this stylistic choice in their novels as “an epistemological tool” to help map the vast territory of an individual’s subjective experience.
Authors and Novels of Stream of Consciousness
As we know, stream of consciousness is like a record of someone’s most natural thoughts in real time. After the rise of Modernism, authors began to popularize this new narrative technique.
Over the years, many authors rightfully took their place as some of the first masters experimenting with stream of consciousness.
Among the list are:
- Virginia Woolf
- James Joyce
- William Faulkner
- Arthur Schnitzler
- Dorothy Richardson
- T. S. Eliot
Among these authors, a few novels have remained as pinnacles of the stream of consciousness technique for modern academics today.
Such novels include:
- The Waves by Virginia Woolf
- The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
- To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
- Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
- The Stranger by Albert Camus
- Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
- In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
- On the Road by Jack Kerouac
- Ulysses by James Joyce
- Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
Stream of Consciousness Example
Virginia Woolf has long been rightfully praised for her skill in writing novels using the stream of consciousness technique. In one of her novels, To the Lighthouse, we can see a short example of her mastery.
“She had the oddest sense of being herself invisible; unseen; unknown; there being nothing particular about her strong eyes, her thin lips; nothing to distinguish her from an ordinary woman.”
In this passage, the stream of consciousness is, firstly, in third person. However, the character, in this case Mrs. Ramesy, is reflecting on her own sense of self. She shares with the reader how invaluable she feels to others, saying she feels unseen and common.
In this technique, the reader can sit inside the character’s head and listen to their thoughts, amplifying the reading experience and heightening the reader’s desire to empathise, if not additionally understand, a character’s thought process behind their behavior.
Stream of Consciousness Conventions
So, next, how does this technique work?
Stream of consciousness is, above all, a narrative style. By using this technique, you are essentially trying to realistically capture a character’s thought process.
To achieve this, you must use:
- Free association: a fluid record of whatever thought pops into a character’s head, leading to their next thought
- Looping repetitions: an idea or feeling that consecutively jumps out in a character’s thoughts
- Sensual details: sensoratory descriptors to help place your reader in your character’s shoes and surroundings
- Syntax: changing the rules in how a normal sentence is structured (not having fully formed thoughts, drifting, looping, stuttering, and forgetting)
- Inventive grammar: not using traditional grammar techniques (like having sentences end with a period or capitalizing proper nouns)
Benefits of Using Stream of Consciousness
Like journaling, stream of consciousness writing has healing capabilities. By using this technique, you are able to step into your own brain and get a sense of your thinking and behavior.
When using stream of consciousness, your reader could hear an event occur through your character’s thoughts, allowing them to understand their behavior in an interactive, personal way.
Journaling, whether using this technique or not, has proven to improve mental health. Learn more about journaling in the blog post below.
How to Journal Using Stream of Consciousness
Now, to practice the technique is pretty self-explanatory.
What you need:
- Pen
- Paper
- Optional: timer
What you do:
- Optional: start a timer for five minutes
- Write down the first thought that entered your head
- Write down the next thought that the first thought brought you to
- Don’t bother writing full sentences
- Pay no attention to grammar rules
- Try not to stop writing
- Make sure to include sensual details (what you see, hear, smell, taste, and can touch in the room)
- Write down how you are feeling in your body
- Try not to influence your thinking; let it flow uncensored
After the Activity
Once you have come to a stop, or your timer goes off, take some time to read back through your notes. What do you notice?
In reflection, ask yourself:
- How quickly did one thought drift into another?
- Did you linger on one thought more than the other? Did one recur?
- What sensual details popped out at you?
- How was your body feeling?
- What stressors or anxieties were you thinking about?
- Are there events in your life you are concentrating on?
- Did you notice your thinking style as nonlinear? Disorganized?
For writing prompts to help you practice description, check out the blog post below!
Conclusion
In conclusion, stream of consciousness is difficult to represent. The writing should feel illogical and yet deeply relatable. The human experience is something your reader will always be able to identify with, so it should feel raw and unfiltered. So practice this technique and unlock a new, experimental narrative style for your writing!
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