Definition
Free indirect discourse blends third-person narration with a character's inner voice. The sentence stays in third person, but idiom, tone, or judgment slip in as if the character were speaking without quotation marks.
Example
She would not apologize again, not after last time mixes narrator grammar with the character's stubborn attitude in one line.
Related terms
Common mistakes
- Confusing free indirect discourse with ordinary third-person summary that has no character flavor.
- Switching whose mind colors the prose mid-paragraph without a viewpoint anchor.