How would YOU show what another character is thinking while being limited to the main character's overall point of view?

[BendtedWreath]

Actions speak louder than words!

...but do they always? 

I find myself in a challenging situation in which Character 2 barely believes Character 1's actions are sincere since they were perceived incorrectly, and he believes the words coming out of Character 1's mouth even less!

My goal is to show Character 2 changing his mind gradually. 

But that had me wondering everyone else's methods to help showcase another character while the main character is still very much the key tool through which we are measuring everything that happens. 

Other than their actions and their words, how would YOU show what another character is thinking while being limited to the main character's overall point of view?

 

[kbois]

You can do this a couple of ways:

1- you can italicize the thoughts of the character X so the readers know what he's thinking without relying on 'telling'. At the same time you have character Y pondering X's thoughts and gradually changing his perception. 

2- you can have character Y  hypothesize as to what he/she thinks the other person is thinking.  This leaves room for further speculation on the main character's part and an internal dialogue showing the change if heart. 

Let me know if you need more help or if you want to bounce some ideas around. 

[BendtedWreath]

I didn't think about pointing out Character 1's thoughts or thought progression/mental perceptions. 🤔And speculating about how we think others view us is something we subconsciously do every day. I just need to try to "transfer" that way of thinking onto the written page. Thank you so much for your input! Now, if I can only figure out what "gradual" in "Character 2's mental language" looks like in my head. 😂

Edited 15 hours ago by BendtedWreath

[Krista]

1 hour ago, BendtedWreath said:

Actions speak louder than words!

...but do they always? 

I find myself in a challenging situation in which Character 2 barely believes Character 1's actions are sincere since they were perceived incorrectly, and he believes the words coming out of Character 1's mouth even less!

My goal is to show Character 2 changing his mind gradually. 

But that had me wondering everyone else's methods to help showcase another character while the main character is still very much the key tool through which we are measuring everything that happens. 

Other than their actions and their words, how would YOU show what another character is thinking while being limited to the main character's overall point of view?

 

Are you writing in first person perspective? 

[Thirdly]

Though it also feels like cheating, one thing that came to mind other than what @kbois wonderfully suggested, are handwritten notes. 👀 I was a teenager once and I remember playing messenger passing notes from girls to boys, or girls to other girls, and so on. When writing from one friend to another (or anything intimate between couples), so much can be read between the lines. It's why there is a collective panic whenever someone intercepts those notes, especially anything incriminating like calling an ex a fusion of a magical girl and their scent of choice "Sailor Spice." 

[BendtedWreath]

4 minutes ago, Krista said:

Are you writing in first person perspective? 

I believe it's third person limited.

[BendtedWreath]

1 minute ago, Thirdly said:

Though it also feels like cheating, one thing that came to mind other than what @kbois wonderfully suggested, are handwritten notes. 👀 I was a teenager once and I remember playing messenger passing notes from girls to boys, or girls to other girls, and so on. When writing from one friend to another (or anything intimate between couples), so much can be read between the lines. It's why there is a collective panic whenever someone intercepts those notes, especially anything incriminating like calling an ex a fusion of a magical girl and their scent of choice "Sailor Spice." 

Sailor Spice doesn't sound like much of an insult to me. 🤣 But I've completely forgotten about handwritten communication (or texting and emailing). Thanks for your input!

[Talo Segura]

12 hours ago, BendtedWreath said:

how would YOU show what another character is thinking while being limited to the main character's overall point of view?

Third person limited is just what it says with the label, it allows a little more freedom with the principal character because you are using he and they, rather than I, but nevertheless the reader is following only this main character's thoughts and inner feelings. The main character may speculate about a secondary character's inner thoughts, but he doesn't know what another person is really thinking. You cannot put the reader inside another character's head, only with third person omniscient where the reader sees all can you do this.

[drown]

12 hours ago, BendtedWreath said:

Other than their actions and their words, how would YOU show what another character is thinking while being limited to the main character's overall point of view?

You are not necessarily limited to just one character's POV though. You can … head hop to another one. This is extremely dangerous territory. But without a lot of finesse, it often comes off heavy-handed. If a story constantly swaps POVs, I will stop reading.

All suggestions above are good though.

I like limited writing POVs, makes it more interesting to deal with such things. Focus on what your main character can see, smell, taste, hear, touch. Have them question their senses, for the reader to really get into the POV's head.

Did he see that expression? It was there, wasn't it? I'm sure it was, oh god, this man was so hard to read! Exhausting. He wished Luke would just come out with it and say what's on his mind. But oh no, we had to sit here and ponder.