: Re: "Thought" Verbs: A sign of weak writing or a stylistic choice? According to Chuck Palahniuk you should avoid "Thought" verbs as much as you can. These include: knew, thought, realized, believed,

In first person (as Ken says) thought verbs are less necessary or unnecessary, but they can be crucial in third person and absolutely necessary.

Mary knew Jack was lying, but she smiled anyway. "Oh, I guess I didn't think of that," she said.

Sometimes what the character is thinking is critical to their motivations, and can increase tension (or dread), and therefore conflict. That is a good thing. If Mary does nothing physical to betray her knowledge of Jack lying, informing the reader of her thoughts using some verbiage is the only choice, if we want that information revealed at this point. If Mary knows Jack is lying at this moment that can influence what she does next; e.g. cut their date short by feigning illness, continue the date and look for information in his apartment, or believe something else Jack tells her. Perhaps she is a spy and this lie tells her that her cover is blown, and that saves her life. Stuff like that.

What a character thinks or knows and does not betray by any physical display can still be important.

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: I agree, subtext is something the author does throughout the work, in various ways. It is not necessarily a psychological leaning of their own, it can be an explicitly formulated principle.

@Mendez196

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: To me, Stephen King's advice (as seen in a live interview, and asked what advice he had for aspiring writers): Basically he said, if you want to write, write. Every day. Don't worry about

@Mendez196

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: Their own distinct personalities and motives for villainy. Would this be a good way to write a Complete Monster? It's a start. But there are only a few motives that really apply to

@Mendez196

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: Alternative sources of drama/tension when the setting is low-violence So, I think I might just have turned my fantasy setting into a Saturday morning cartoon. I just, don't want people to die

: Re: "Thought" Verbs: A sign of weak writing or a stylistic choice? According to Chuck Palahniuk you should avoid "Thought" verbs as much as you can. These include: knew, thought, realized, believed,

More posts by @Mendez196

: I agree, subtext is something the author does throughout the work, in various ways. It is not necessarily a psychological leaning of their own, it can be an explicitly formulated principle.

: To me, Stephen King's advice (as seen in a live interview, and asked what advice he had for aspiring writers): Basically he said, if you want to write, write. Every day. Don't worry about

: Their own distinct personalities and motives for villainy. Would this be a good way to write a Complete Monster? It's a start. But there are only a few motives that really apply to

: Alternative sources of drama/tension when the setting is low-violence So, I think I might just have turned my fantasy setting into a Saturday morning cartoon. I just, don't want people to die

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