Happy New year! Sorry its been a little while, but the holidays just grabbed a hold of me! :) That's ok, I spent a lot of time with family and friends. And my manuscript. So that was good! I also read a bunch of books: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, How to Write Killer Fiction, The Girl that Kicked the Hornet's Nest, The Firm and The Uglies (my reviews are on my goodreads).
So. It's a new year. 2011. I have very high hopes for this year. Things are going to be better, Im going to be better, more dedicated etc. My biggest new years resolution is obvious: FINISH BOOK 1. And not by the end of the year.... SOON! Im gonna become OBSESSED. That's my goal- obsession.
I feel like Im on such a good track with it right now. I have a solid outline and Im no longer struggling with the ending (of the trilogy). I have a SOLID plan. Seems like I should have had that before now right? Well, originally the story started with what is now book 2, and so in developing my antagonist in book one, I fell in love with the character, and was struggling with having the character do what he/she does. But I think that's what will make this character great. A complex character, with decisions that aren't black and white at all. Characters that are faced with impossible situations, where no matter what they choose, it will change them and stretch them.
Another thing I decided, or rather learned the hard way, was that I am going to write the book from multiple viewpoints in 3rd person limited. There are a series of things that I have learned a long the way that I WISH I would have known at the beginning. This is one of them, so I'm going to give you the cliff notes of my research.
Point of View- this is a HUGE deal. I didn't think it was, or I thought I understood it, but I didn't. POV will dramatically change how your book is written and how you shed light on things as the author.
First Person (Thoughts and feelings of one main character who is telling the story) First person will always have "I" in it. This is a good choice for a first time writer because it's not confusing at all and you can help the readers feel like they are inside the head of the character, allowing them to identify with the author fully.
examples: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox, The Woods by Harlan Coban
Second Person (Turns the reader into the character) Second person will have "you" in it. This is not used very often and is not a good choice for a first time writer.
example: The Orchids by Thomas Cook
Third Person Omniscient (All knowing, can include thoughts and feelings of any character and can head-hop within scenes). This is a good choice for a huge body of work, something like Lord of the Rings, because you can move your story forward and let the reader in on many viewpoints along the way. The downside of this point of view is that there will always be a barrier between the reader and the characters. They will never feel as if they are IN the situation, which you can achieve with either first person or third person limited. This used to be the preferred way of writing but has fallen out of favor in recent years.
This is the viewpoint I had unknowingly started writing it, and then I did all this research and basically its a huge NO NO to write your first novel in this viewpoint. Everyone says STAY AWAY, to the point that publishers may not even look at it. So, that caused a lot of rewriting for me, BUT I think that its better now, because exactly what they say would happen did. You feel MUCH closer to the character. The thing that was crappy for me learning this later in the game, was that there were scenes I'd written that now I have to take out completely, or rework them into another perspective.
examples: A Time to Kill by John Grisham, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, Lord of the Rings by J.R. R. Tolkien, Anna Karenina by Leo Toldtoy, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Third Person Limited (Thoughts and feelings of the main character, similar to 1st person, but instead of "I," the character's name is used. Phrases like "he said, she said") This perspective is often used and is recommended along with 1st person for beginning writers.
The challenge for me with this is that there is no way this story can be told from only one person's perspective because it is very complex and in my opinion would not do it justice. So that brings me to another option of Multiple POV.
examples: Harry Potter by J.K Rowling, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Multiple ViewPoints (Includes thoughts and feelings from more than one main character, but ONLY one at a time. It will be broken up with *** or through a new chapter) This is not a recommended style for first time writers... but its what I'm using. I just feel like it would be impossible to tell the story from one persons perspective. But I do like using the 3rd person limited instead of omniscient because I think you will really feel connected with the characters and that's really important to me.
The caution with this viewpoint is to use as few perspectives as you can and still effectively tell the story. Readers start to identify with whoever is telling the story, so if you switch it too often, you will have frustrated readers.
examples: My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult, The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edawards, The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Within these categories, the book can either be written with objective or subjective viewpoints:
Objective: Basically a camera's perspective- no thoughts or feelings, just the what someone says or facial reactions.
Subjective: Allows for internal thoughts and feelings.
So, that's my sum-up of POV. I have learned what a big difference this can make in a book. From me just switching from omniscient to 3rd person limited from multiple perspectives, it was challenging to think of new scenes that get the same thing across, from one of my POV characters.
I'm plugging away, and loving ever second. I'm still in love with Scrivener. It's a fantastic program.
Well I should be back to regular postings again. :) Hopefully this POV explanation was helpful- it helped me solidify it all in my mind by writing it!
Ok, I'm off to hit my word count for the day! 2000!
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