Free indirect speech

Okay, so imagine you are telling a story about a funny dog named Max. If you were to say, "Max was so silly, he made everyone laugh," that would be direct speech. You are directly stating what happened.

But what if you wanted to tell the story in a way that made it seem like Max was telling it himself? You might say something like, "Max thought he was hilarious, making all of his human friends chuckle."

This is free indirect speech! It's when the narrator is describing what someone is thinking or saying in a way that is kind of a mix between direct and indirect speech.

It's like you're pretending to be Max and telling the story in your own words, but still keeping some distance as the storyteller.

It's a really cool technique that writers use to make their stories more interesting and dynamic!