That’s because the narrator isn’t, in effect, ‘quoting’ them like they would dialogue. Note how Anne’s thoughts are in past tense, unlike in the first two examples. Here, rather than the narrator directly conveying Anne’s internal thoughts using a device like ‘he/she thought’ or italics, it feels more like Anne’s voice has blended into the narration itself. Anne turned and left, without saying a word.ĭo you see what’s happened? Anne’s internal thoughts have appeared without any indicator to distinguish them from the narration, other than their actual content. But why? Because he was a lowlife, that’s why. Here it is in action:įor six years, Anne had thought Harry dead.
#Omniscient narrator definition free
But there he was, alive and well… She turned and left, without saying a word.’) and the character’s internal thoughts.īut free indirect discourse takes a different approach. ‘For six years, Anne had thought Harry dead. These techniques help the reader to distinguish between the narration (i.e. She turned and left, without saying a word. But why? Because he’s lowlife, that’s why. She turned and left, without saying a word.įor six years, Anne had thought Harry dead. But why? Because he’s a lowlife, that’s why. In third person, the conventional way of rendering a character’s thoughts is to use ‘he/she thought’ and/or italics to clearly signal to the reader that the internal thoughts are being directly expressed:įor six years, Anne had thought Harry dead. So what exactly is it, and why should you use it?Īlso known as free indirect speech or free indirect style, free indirect discourse is a method of conveying a character’s internal thoughts by embedding them within the narration, rather than expressing them directly.
It sounds kind of fancy, but it’s actually quite a natural technique (you may have even used it without realising!). Free indirect discourse is one of the most useful and effective tools available to those writing from a third person point of view.
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