Young Writers Society

Can it work? When is it best to use it?

Yes, of course it can work, but (in my opinion) only limitedly. I personally prefer to work in past tense, and while I acknowledge that not all present-tense work is s.o.c., I find that particular device most useful when I need to get my reader as deeply into a single character's thoughts/emotions/experiences as possible. For myself, I almost only ever use it in dreams or during moments of extreme crisis and/or import. (P.S. Stream of consciousness doesn't have to be present-tense, btw).

I think it works best [for me] in small doses. I did some of it in a short story and it worked out pretty well, no one really noticed or complained. It might not make a whole lot of sense:

“No, Agatha, they will. I don’t even know why the hell you want to go tonight. You’re crazy, you know? You’re going to find someone you want me to kill and I’m going to go to jail because of you.” He resorted to staring out the window and fantasizing. His hands would crawl up her sides as his knees pinned her to the seat and then he would squeeze so tight around her neck that she would—no, he wasn’t that kind of person. Deep breaths, he told himself.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I’ve been worrying about this for a while now.”

From The Party Killers short story. (But you should read the novel instead!)

That's stream of consciousness, isn't it? For me, it works in little places. I'm not sure you could write a whole poem or story or novel off of it, because the conscience is so crazy and wild. It might work for some things. Oh, and now that I think about it, I have another story that might be stream of consciousness. It worked for that because the story was in first person, and about a panic attack, so stream of consciousness put the reader right in the heart of the action.

You have to be careful with it though. *babbles*