Hi Bilal,

Even in history books, authors cannot always paraphrase reports. At one time or another, one is compelled to "cite" statements by the characters invoved in the discourse. In other words, the presentation assumes a hybrid nature where the author speaks and also gives the characters the opportunity to speak.

The question arises: How much do you want to speak for the characters? And how much do you want the characters to speak for themselves?

Having written novels and reviews and reported scientific experiments, I have found it very hard to write even a short story completely in stream of consciousness, that is, if you mean everything in your own words. It would work if you are just musing over something real or otherwise. Even then, I find that the writing has more impact and conveys a sense of reality when it is interspersed with dialogues even though it is fiction. Try this:

Write a short story as a stream. Then, render the same short story as a dialogue. Remember: The dialogue requires a narrator (you), and characters (actors). I often find that the later is more impactful.

That was just my side of the story.

In literature, there are cases where “stream of consciousness” is used as a general term for all “inner world” narratives, as well as different terms (inner monologue, indirect-direct inner monologue, soliloquy, etc.). So, actually, I think the term "stream of consciousness" is also controversial. Perhaps instead of a general definition, it would be more accurate to try to understand and analyze the narrative style specific to each writer. Naming is not very important. In literature, and of course in art in general, what is called form is not an empty mold. Actually, the word “form” is not very appropriate either. What creates the form (and what is called the narrative style), the form, is the “issue” of the work, and this emerges during the writing process, so to speak, in a sense independent of the writer, the “issue” gives birth to its own form.

When it comes to the use of stream of consciousness in a short story, here too, the question of whether it would be better to write the story entirely as stream of consciousness or to rely on dialogues between characters should be answered from this perspective. If the "issue" of the story can be better conveyed only through stream of consciousness, of course that is better. But if the "issue" can be better conveyed through dialogues between characters, that is good. Even when writing stream of consciousness, dialogue can be included because the dialogue already exists in the stream of consciousness as memories or perceptions of the moment. For example, this can be seen even in the last section of Joyce's Ullyses.

But the job of literature and art in general is not to "tell" but to convey emotion and, based on Deleuze, to create "affects". Therefore, I think this should be taken into consideration in the choice you made in the question you asked. Best wishes Billal Yahiaoui

Nuray Tekin dear Madam Nuray, much obliged for your response, it is much appreciated and seems that it saw beyond my question as several points you raised do exist within the problematic I wanted to ask, yet I didn’t mention them as the question section on ResearchGate implies a very short words limit.

First, the point you raised on the fact it is what you called the “issue” that grants a form to the story Is exactly the case, because I have already written the short story, and it came out naturally in a stream of consciousness, from beginning to end, with only one character, the protagonist’s inner monologue and reflections on a myriad of thematics, thereof cinema, suicide, nostalgia, the dilemma of death, autism, selective mutism, Oedipal complex, love, absurdism and many more that referred and connected to each other in a very coherent, smooth way. I did not plan it to be that way, and didn’t even preselect the thematics or anything, but that’s how it turned out.

I showed it to two literature professors of mine, and they praised it saying that it’s some of the finest prose they have ever read, even compared to well-established authors. One of them also made that it echoes Joycean style, the author you have just mentioned, and after having read Ulysses, I found it be so, especially Proteus chapter. Fun fact, is that it came out that way naturally, as I wrote the short story prior to reading Joyce‘s works.

So I considered submitting it to the magazines, and first perused a plethora of short fiction published by those magazines, and I noticed that there was not a single one carried out entirely in stream of consciousness, they all incorporate dialogue, even some descriptive stories that are written to a great extent, say 80 percent of the prose, in stream of consciousness they still include some dialogue in the remaining percentage. And for what you mentioned that even in stream of consciousness there still could be some dialogue, this is somewhat the case in my short story there is a very small dialogue where the protagonist recalls a confabulation, yet it’s very short, literally just three lines of dialogue in an almost 5000 words short fiction. So, it is entirely carried out in inner monologue and that’s when I decided to ask the question here, I considered reworking it and included some dialogue—practical instant dialogue by introducing two more characters that the protagonist runs into in his walk, not some old evocated dialogue—it became around 1500 words longer than its first version, story unaltered, still of same quality and finesse, yet I’d prefer to publish it as in its first draft, as I am a huge fan of modernist style, and the point you made that art should convey emotions, not just inform events seems to be supportive to my preference. Given that it first came out naturally like that, and a single character, with the highly metaphoric language of the story, supports the alienation thematic.

So, do you suggest that I should go for it and submit it in its first form, or submit it in its second draft? And given that you seem to be a well-established author, do you have magazines in your mind you may wanna recommend to me as a non-established writer, beyond the well known ones like the Bomb, the Sun, or the New Yorker?

Once again, thank you for your response, Madam Nuray, and kind regards.

Akpan Jimmy Essien

Dear Mr. Akpan, much obliged for your response. I know that writing a short story entirely in stream of consciousness, and for your suggestion that I should write that way, then rewrite again by incorporating characters that would trigger dialogue, I actually already have done it. I already wrote the story some years ago, it came out naturally in a stream of consciousness, from beginning to end, with only one character, the protagonist’s inner monologue and reflections on a myriad of thematics, thereof cinema, suicide, nostalgia, the dilemma of death, autism, selective mutism, Oedipal complex, love, absurdism and many more that referred and connected to each other in a very coherent, smooth way. I did not plan it to be that way, and didn’t even preselect the thematics or anything, but that’s how it turned out.

I showed it to two literature professors of mine, and they praised it saying that it’s some of the finest prose they have ever read, even compared to well-established authors, as it of Joycean style.

So I considered submitting it to the magazines, and first, perused plethora of short fiction published by those magazines, and I noticed that there was not a single one carried out entirely in stream of consciousness, they all incorporate dialogue, even some descriptive stories that are written to a great extent, say 80 percent of the prose, in stream of consciousness they still include some dialogue in the remaining percentage, unlike my story where there is a very small dialogue when the protagonist recalls a confabulation, yet it’s very short, literally just three lines of dialogue in an almost 5000 words short fiction. So, it is entirely carried out in inner monologue and that’s when I decided to ask the question here, I considered reworking it like you said and did already, included some dialogue—practical, instant dialogue by introducing two more characters that the protagonist runs into in his walk, not some old dialogue that the protagonist remembers—it became around 1500 words longer than its first version, story unaltered, still of same quality and finesse, yet I’d prefer to publish it as in its first original draft, for some reason that I can’t even identify or name, or I feel that it conveys the emotion of it way better that way, and lack of characters consolidates the thematic of alienation that is central to it, even though, as I said previously, I didn‘t even plan any thematic to the novel, everything was done spontaneously.

So, do you suggest that I should go for it and submit it in its first form, or submit it in its second draft? And given that you seem to be a well-established author, do you have magazines in your mind you may wanna recommend to me as a non-established writer, beyond the well known ones like the Bomb, the Sun, or the New Yorker?

Once again, thank you for your response, Mr. Akpan, and kind regards.

As someone who writes short stories, I really read your writing about the writing process with excitement. Questions always arise during the writing process. When there are no more questions, the work is finished :) Your definition of "it came out like this" points to spontaneity, and this is one of the qualities that can best describe stream of consciousness. It is a bit difficult for me to express an opinion between the two versions. You also say that you prefer the first version. Of course, the second version can be used if the added parts do not disrupt the integrity of the story and the feeling it carries. If the story is newly written, it is always good to step back, take a break and look at it again later. I do not have much idea about the publication mediums. Because I write my stories and other writings in my own language (Turkish) and they are published in Türkiye. However, it is known that the New Yorker publishes the first stories of many famous writers (like Salinger) and helps them become internationally known. I wish you success Billal Yahiaoui

Dear Nuray Tekin,

This short fiction has not been written recently no, I wrote it around 5 years ago, and kept it inside my desk, and in 2022 I became in the habit of reading short fiction on magazines in bulk, thereof the Atlantic, ThreePennyReview, The Sun, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Bomb, One Story etc. Prior to this, my readership consisted of reading only novels, novellas, and essays. Seldom did I read short fiction before that period, so at the time I remembered that short fiction of mine, which is not my first attempt at writing by the way, I have other pieces in English and French, but I remembered that one particularly as I felt that it’s of quality, I reworked it four times, changed some lines, metaphors, metonymies, and included another confessional text on the dilemma of death entitled Sensibilité Postmoderne, which I originally wrote in French, and I thought that it‘d fit perfectly within the protagonist‘s stream of thoughts and reflections, and helped in a better way to connect two other thematics. So I translated it, as I work as translator by the way, and incorporated it within the prose, finalizing thus the first draft of it that contains no dialogue, only to later make a second draft that contains two characters with dialogue involved, which I explained yesterday.

The entire essence of that short fiction is still of its original first draft that came out spontaneously, but has already been reworked, to respond to your suggestion that I should step back a little bit, which is some good advice as I’m aware that no work of fiction ever is published without some stages of refinement.

Therefore, I feel that the story is ready to go, and even entitled, feel like that no other rework is needed and I can take my chances now, yet just wanted to make sure of my chances between the two drafts, which is why I asked the question, because I heard the short fiction market at the magazines is highly competitive, and they take quite a time to even respond. Once I make my decision, I will send you a sample of it so you may voice to me your opinion of it, if you wish to of course.

Hopefully, I will have the chance to read some of your prose if it’s available in English or French translations.

Thank you, Madam, it was of immense pleausure reading your points and opinions in retort to my question. Thank you for the taking the time. 🙏

May you have a good day.

After trying digital media, maybe you can also try magazines (digital or physical) in your country.

Of course, you can send your story. I would like to read it.

As for my stories, unfortunately there are no English or French translations. I am not a bestseller in my own country :) And I can be considered a somewhat marginal writer. I am not very good at writing in English. I am good at reading, understanding and translating written texts into my native language, but I have not attempted to write a literary text in English so far. But I will try to translate one of my stories and send it. I will send it via the message application on RG.

By the way, your thesis topic also caught my attention. Because Steppenwolf is one of my favorite novels. Since psychoanalysis is also an area of ​​interest to me, I plan to read it as soon as possible.

Again, with my best wishes Billal Yahiaoui