Point of view is killing me.
I don't even have the first draft of my novel down, yet I've already made more POV changes than I have cups of coffee over the past two weeks. I am having a terribly hard time choosing my protagonist out of two characters who are relentlessly fighting over the spotlight, and I don't want to end up with a "he said, she said" novel, changing from "his" to "hers" with each chapter.
I'm finding now that I wish I'd paid more attention to the mechanics of all the books I've read over the years, but I haven't. I haven't, and I still don't. I'm a sucker for a story, so I'm realizing now that as a reader, I care only about plot plot plot. I couldn't tell you from whose POV my favorite novel is written: I'm going to go back to it today and take a look just to squelch that question once and for all.
I'm terrible at overthinking, and I'm afraid I've gotten myself out of just enjoying the process and more into the technicalities and trivialites of the whole thing. My gut tells me to just write write write and worry more about the fine-tuning later on down the road, but once I hit chapter 16 or so, it seems fruitless for me to continue on without knowing exactly whose story I'm telling. I'm thinking about sitting my two characters down and having them arm wrestle it out.
Maybe it's time to peruse a few of my favorite books to see what jumps out at me.
On a side note, while I haven't been writing, I did paint the inside of my house. Perhaps this is part of my problem.
Back to the manuscript. Thanks for dropping in! :)
Personally I hope you fight the urge to tell everything from two perspectives. So many authors are doing it these days, and most don't do it well. They don't establish two distinct voices or provide really new information from each character. You sound like you write your way into a story rather than knowing it all when you start. Me, too!
ReplyDeleteIs this the first ever book you've attempted? If it is, I suggest you just write out everything you can and then sort out the details later. Remember, you can only edit/fix what has been written, so it's not pointless to write without knowing everything.
ReplyDeleteThe first draft is an exploration, so you're due to rewrite/cut/change scenes anyway. It's also where you get to play to your strengths and worry about your weaknesses later.
Have fun. Don't let the technicalities kill your love for the story.