Stream of Consciousness Writing
Lessons from Ann Patchett's State of Wonder
Let’s talk about drifting between states of consciousness in writing; and how to do this seamlessly.
As a creative, I find my mind wanders. A natural habit of the mind — hence the tendency of guided meditations to ask the meditator to acknowledge and ‘let go’ of any intrusive thoughts.
In writing, I think this sense of a wandering mind can be used to great effect. And since I have been using this space to examine Ann Patchett’s work of late, I have selected some passages from State of Wonder — my current read — to illustrate how this is done.
In this first example, Patchett seamlessly weaves between her character’s thoughts and the present moment — I have made the character’s thoughts in italics; while the unfolding action is also in bold.
In this passage, thoughts and action exist side by side. Yet there is no need to explicitly state when a shift has taken place. We understand when are experiencing thoughts and memory and when we are experiencing action because of the differences in subject matter and different structural features — present action is quite dialogue-heavy which works to distinguish between the parallel threads.
In her thoughts, Patchett’s protagonist, Marina, is reliving a medical case; while in the present, she is on board a flight and made to interact with the people around her.
‘Marina Singh had been the chief resident and Dr. Swenson was the attending.’
‘“How are you feeling now?” the flight attendant asked.’
‘She tried to separate what had happened that night from her deposition.’
‘“Can you see anything down there?” asked the man in the suit.’
‘She had done C-sections before but on that night…’1
While much happens in between, each of these sentences feature at the start of a new paragraph and represent how Patchett is able to weave in and out of states of consciousness, seamlessly picking up the thread of each type of narration.
Here’s another example.
In this example, Patchett is depicting a dream sequence intruded by reality. A recurring dream of her father that leads to Marina yelling in her sleep; which leads to Dr Swenson tipping Marina out of her hammock.
‘Her father was there, but he was in a terrible rush… Marina latched onto the back of her father’s belt… She was trying to outsmart the dream… The dream was intent on its own historical set of rules… and so he rammed his cart between them... The blow hit her with such velocity… It was like a dream, and for the instant she was above the crowd she saw everything… the entire weight of her body coming onto her elbow.
‘“Is it a snake?” Dr Swenson shouted at her. “Have you been bitten, Dr. Singh?”’2
This passage is interesting because it conveys the dreamer as conscious of the dream — ‘She was trying to outsmart the dream…’ — and yet, this passage also reflects the way the dreamer becomes invested in the dream as a kind of reality. Interestingly, Patchett even refers to the experience of the dream as ‘…like a dream…’ — not that it was a dream — conveying the experience as ‘real.’
However, the dream is then washed away by reality. Again, it is dialogue that helps re-establish the present action.
Share…
Have you used this technique in your own writing? What aspects of writing do you want to learn how to master?
Author Interview
Check out my latest author interview on Reading Nook where I discuss ideas, books and writing advice.
Do you have your copy of Maplecroft yet?
Patchett, A. (2011). State of Wonder. Bloomsbury, p. 65-67.
Patchett, A. (2011). State of Wonder. Bloomsbury, p. 194-195.