Let Me Explain…

I tweeted about a writing pet peeve, something about ‘he thought to himself’. I thought this was obviously redundant considering if you think something, it can only be to yourself unless you’re a telepathic.

But as with all thing internet, this was immediately disputed by someone stating this is ‘internalizing’ as if this was an actual term.

It isn’t.

If a character thinks something, ‘internalization’ is already established. And a character nodding to himself is just as silly. He either nods or he doesn’t. There is no ‘to himself’. That implies that he’s committing the action with something other than his real, physical head as it was something only he could perceive. I have no clue how a character comes about having this ghostly appendage and what purpose it serves outside of establishing that a character can agree with himself, but it’s definitely a reading speed bump and, in this author’s estimation, should be avoided.