Wednesday 27 January 2010

Circled Back to Multiple Third Person POV

You might remember my raving about possibly changing POV for my NaNo novel, from multiple third person into first person. After my first read-through, I was almost convinced that the first person was the way to go. I thought it would make the reader connect more to the MC. I knew it wasn’t the only way, because after all, there are plenty of amazing third person books out there where I connect with the MC very strongly. Another reason was that the protagonist is strong enough to carry it off, and also – perhaps most importantly – I feel first person comes more easily to me than the third person. This is quite strange because I started writing in third-person, and a major part of what I have written is in third person. Yet, I am quite sure that my first person stories definitely are better written. So I did an experiment. I wrote the beginning of my NaNo novel into first person. And it worked. I knew the story could work in first person, and I was all geared up to re-write the whole thing. I started doing the new outline, as I would have to get rid of the scenes from other people’s POV and incorporate relevant information through the MC. However, as I was doing that new outline I began to have doubts about my choice, because some of the scenes I was looking at – the scenes from other characters’ POV where MC isn’t present, seemed to add richness to the story. Those scenes offer my story an alternative perspective. Now by this time, I was perfectly sure that this story – written by an accomplished author – could work in either first person or third person. But obviously, it was going to be harder for me not being very experienced at revisions and editing. I continued to work through the outline, and kept stressing over it. And then suddenly, it was clear. I came across a scene from non-MC POV; I realized his perspective makes the story that little bit deeper, and voila, problem solved. Multiple-third person was going to stay. As for my ability, well I was going to have to learn to do third-person well eventually, so might as well start now. It’s not that I can’t do third-person, but I was just going for an easier way which the first person offered me. Though I have come to a full circle, and spent a whole month doing it, I am glad I went through it. It’s been frustrating, and often I want to kick myself for wasting that time, but I know that it was worth it, because having tried both, I am more sure of my choice than I was before. I am happy now, instead of having to wonder two drafts later whether I made the right decision. Also, having gone through this next time I will be more careful making POV decision BEFORE I write, so lesson learned. Experience Gained. Now it’s just a little matter of turning the first draft into a pleasurable novel.

10 comments:

  1. It's amazing how much we can learn by simply playing with the words, isn't it? Even when it feels like working in circles, there's still so much information to find from exercises like this...kudos to you for taking the time, making sure you know what you want, and then going forward again. Sounds like you discovered a lot about yourself as a writer too - more invaluable information. :-)

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  2. Thanks Jamie. Yes, definitely learned some lessons in the process.

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  3. Glad you figured it out! I still have not figured out how to write in third person, so I admire people who can do that. :)

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  4. Sounds like we've been dealing with the same problem! I too started a novel in multiple 3rd person POV, then tried it in 1st person thinking I was better at 1st person and the story might be stronger....NOPE - back to multiple 3rd person POV for me. I hate feeling like I've wasted all that time but it makes it easier when I remind myself it is all part of the process and I am not the only one who struggles with this. Thanks!

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  5. Elana,
    when I first started writing, I hadn't even ready many first person books so third person was the most natural thing to do, and I thought all good novels were written like that.

    Rebecca,
    While it is frustrating to "waste time", I think focusing on lessons lerned is importance, because writing career is like an on-going apprenticeship. We learn by trying various things, and it's the only way, because what works for someone else might not work for us at all. So we all have to find our own methods.

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  6. And now you can be more confident in your choice because you did go through all that. I'm so glad! I love your header by the way. Very cool!

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  7. Thanks Nisa. Yes, it's exactly right. Now I am positive that I made the right choice. And welcome to the blog.

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  8. So glad you figured it out! I write in 1st person and haven't tried third yet, maybe my next one. Sometimes it takes time to work all that out :o)

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  9. Thanks Erica. You should definitely try 3rd person, even if you don't end up using it, it will be a good experience.

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  10. I once had problems with a main character so I started re-writing the novel from her point of view. While she became a much stronger character, unfortunately the story itself suffered in the process. There were just too many twists that would have had to be excluded using first person. Like you, I don't regret the time I spent on the re-write, I learned a great deal from it.

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