How does stream of consciousness narrative affect your understanding of a character?

The stream of consciousness narrative enhances our understanding of a character by providing direct insight into their inner thoughts, feelings, and mental processes. For example, in James Joyce's "Ulysses," we follow the protagonist Leopold Bloom's thoughts in a fluid, uninterrupted manner, gaining a profound understanding of his inner life, fears, and desires. This technique isn't limited to fiction. Biographies of business leaders often adopt a similar approach to provide a comprehensive portrayal. In "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson, the narrative includes detailed accounts of Jobs' internal monologues and personal reflections, allowing readers to grasp his visionary thinking, emotional struggles, and unique approach to leadership.

According to some sources stream of consciousness narrative is, and I quote "Stream of consciousness often includes elements such as inner monologues, sudden switches in subject or tone, and fragmented syntax. The technique can be used to convey a character's thought patterns, desires, anxieties, and even their subconscious mind. Well, it is difficult to be someone as the Mel Gibson's character in 'What woman wants' - which might be really interesting yet very challenging, but having this technique might bring you closer to the character and that might help you to see the world as they see it... Thus, this brings raw emotions from the character, but be aware that this might not be genuine in some cases. There are other issues to consider.

Like playing the flute to the buffalo. The truth of Humanity is that we all are smug and confident in our skins about our abilities and see ourselves as quite adequately ready for life. The rest is just talk flying above our heads

Twin speeches visible to audience, inner thinking and outer layer. Self-monologue and experience within by outer observations and absorption

Back in 2015, the moment I heard myself say, “I think there’s a book inside of me,” I realized a new path on my journey of life was being forged. When I began to conceptualize my first solo book project, I Wanna See Laney’s House: A Sibling Story, I wasn’t thinking in terms of literary craft nor creative nonfiction, let alone streams of consciousness. The book is deeply personal, covering childhood trauma, adolescence and young adulthood, evolution into a grown woman, and liberation from my past. I knew what I felt inside yet how to write my story in terms of style, process and flow was a bit of a mystery. My personal style, process and flow began to take shape when I stumbled upon the work of two individuals: Lee Gutkind and Julia Cameron.

Time and memory through streams of consciousness were tricky for me as I wrote the Laney book. The process was indeed nonlinear, particularly because I was the main character examining different stages of my own life over the course of time—yet not just through my own eyes but through the eyes of others as well. My vivid memory of traumatic experiences such as the death of my sister were confirmed through family accounts (including my mother who at the time of my research was suffering from stage 4 breast cancer). My quest for confirmation included newspaper articles, death certificates, and other historical artifacts that I found in my mother's house. It all helped me to put the puzzle pieces of time and memory into the right context.