(no subject)

[yendi]

So, as shadesong mentioned in her LJ, I came to an epiphany about my novel. It's got to be in the first person. I'm glad I'd only gotten up to chapter three -- I'd hate to have to re-write it if I'd gone further. Then again, I don't think I could have gone much further - yesterday was a near-total block.

I'd originally wanted to rotate various protagonists, but this one character is clearly the lead, and she's got a much stronger voice than the others. And there's too much of her history and personality that just won't come through in the third person.

Tomorrow's writing night ('song and mousegrrl will be out shopping), so I'm planning on getting everything revised then, and, if I'm lucky, getting some new material out there, too.

Comments

[ex-ilk.livejournal.com]

You're writing a novel AND you like Ellison. I envy you. I cannot bring myself to write fiction anymore. Someday, perhaps. Any chance of an advance copy once you're finished? :)

[yendi]

Well, sure -- if I ever finish (shadesong's comic will be out long before my novel).

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

Why not still rotate various protagonists, but tell each story in first person anyway?

[yendi]

Because A)I don't have the skill to get into that many characters' heads yet (Keith Hartman I'm not), and B)this character has pretty much become the focus of the story anyway.

[ariadnesthread.livejournal.com]

My proto-novel is, so far, in first person, too. Problem is, I think the *story* would work better in third person, but the protagonist's own perception of things seems to matter most. And yet, somewhere in the book, the secondary protagonist also wants to talk about things. I think I've figured out how he will speak--protagonist gives him a journal. It's a bit of a device, but I think it will work.

Now if the real plot would just reveal itself....I've got a handle on the characters, I think, but there are about five different stories that want to be told, and I can't figure out which is the most important (I might be able to get two of them into a book, but not *all* of them! They're too disparate).

And, hey, massive congrats to you for the hard work you're putting in! To 'song, too, for her ongoing efforts!