Rant Control

I've recently realized that a good deal of my fiction includes scenes of characters going on angry rants. I wonder if this is too much of a crutch, as it is a very easy way to show what the character thinks and feels, without using heavy exposition.

On the other hand, these are often the most exciting, amusing, or enlightening parts of the narrative; I don't think I could write a story where everyone is calm and stoic and super-subtle, I'll leave that to Henry James.

In fact, some of my favorite books include rants - The Brothers Karamazov, Invisible Man, Under the Volcano, Miss Lonelyhearts, Past Continuous - and some stories like Notes from Underground and "Diary of a Madman" could be said to be composed almost entirely of angry rants.

Plus, planning and writing them is so damn much fun. I guess I'll rant on.