What A Difference A POV Makes.
Nov82009
I’m writing Liz and Andie/AKMG at the same time. I’ve never done that before, it seems insane, but the truth is, they’re such different processes at this point that it’s working. Liz is easy NaNo stuff that doesn’t have to make sense so I really am sort of throwing up on paper. And I have over 14,000 words now, so I’m regurgitating effectively. I’ve also got a lot of stuff that I have no idea why I’m writing–I just did a scene where Liz asks her mother questions about bears–but it doesn’t matter because it’s NaNo. AKMG is entirely different. I’m in the truck draft stage which means I’m writing stuff that could be published if I got hit by a truck. It’s much more thought out, much more structured, and difficult as all hell. That makes sense given the two different processes, but here’s something I didn’t realize: first person is much, much easier.
My third person novels are edifices, those suckers are structured and layered and built to withstand hurricanes. I like them, I intend to write more of them, but they’re massive. Everything’s through the third limited POV character’s eyes, but I need to get the global view, too, set the scene, do the heavy lifting. With first person, it’s just Liz’s thoughts and statements based on what she sees and hears. I don’t need to write globally because it’s all local, inside Liz’s head. It’s incredibly freeing, especially since she can think in tangents if it fits the scene, like the point in the first scene when she’s waiting for the cop to come back and you get her random thoughts. That stuff is fun to write. I’d used first person before in short stories, but doing a novel, it’s like a vacation. I can’t get the richness and the texture I can get in third limited, but it’s worth the trade-off to get the lightness and ease.
Of course sometime in January I’m going to be revising Liz and then the weeping and gnashing will start but for right now, it’s like having ice cream in the morning and roast beef at night. And I think I’ll break for a snack now. Also, God bless NaNo, that’s what I think.
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20 Comments to 'What A Difference A POV Makes.'
On November 8, 2009 at 12:26 am Merry the CB said...
I like that you’re having fun writing. I understand that editing is no fun (whether self-done or otherwise), but at least in the initial story-catching-fire part of the process, writing should be fun!
This principle, to me, is kinda a fun-damental.
Yes. Yes, I am going away now. Quietly.
On November 8, 2009 at 1:08 am CourtneyDe said...
The fun you’re having writing it really comes through, because it was a joy to read, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Liz has a great voice.
On November 8, 2009 at 4:23 am Briana said...
I actually think that I would/will write better when I’m working on multiple projects. It’s just the way I roll, baby.
And, YAY that NaNo is being fun for you. I wish I was doing it this year.
On November 8, 2009 at 9:35 am JulieB said...
Thanks for all the posts on this — I don’t know when you find time to write them, but this is really fun to watch.
I keep wanting to start a 1st person story, but right now I have a 3rd person, and I think every person has a POV. But I’ll figure that out later. Maybe.
On November 8, 2009 at 11:29 am Kate said...
congrats on the word count! I love “the truck draft” stage. It made me chuckle and I really need that. Thanks for keeping us posted. It’s good to know the possibilities of styles and how each feels.
Take care!
Kate
the officially published writer
On November 8, 2009 at 11:33 am Kerensa Brougham said...
Hear, hear! I find when writing in first person that I can “write my way out of a scene” much better. In other words, if I don’t know how the character is going to get out of the hole she’s dug herself, it doesn’t matter, because *she* doesn’t know either. We both figure it out as we go along, and then in the editing stage, I clean up any excess meanderings from her/my thought processes.
But I do seriously miss the multiple layers of third person POV. It’s definitely a trade off.
On November 8, 2009 at 2:32 pm Sure thing said...
“I’m in the truck draft stage which means I’m writing stuff that could be published if I got hit by a truck.”
I’m to tired to do my own posts so i’m just copying what I like of yours.
My nano has stuttered to a halt. sigh. I’m exhausted – I’ve been cleaning up.
For those who think that cleaning up shouldn’t detract from NaNo – think a room 75% as full as Jenny’s office (she posted a pic once.) I’m not finished with it yet. But its a good start.
On November 8, 2009 at 3:56 pm Rachael Herron said...
I’m doing the exact same thing. I’m writing a contracted 3rd-person novel due in March that matters, but the 1st-person NaNo is flying from my fingers like a freakin’ vacation. It doesn’t matter (it’s a YA paranormal, two things I never write), and it’s just a hell of a lot of fun.
Happy November!
On November 8, 2009 at 5:16 pm JenK said...
I tend to like the texture of third person. It’s always nice to get in someone else’s head for a while and the more heads the merrier. Having said that? I LOVED reading the section where Liz starts filling time waiting for the cop to come back. It’s funny and truthful and exactly the type of thing that runs through most heads while filling time. First person is fun, you get more depth of character because there is only one head to worry about.
On November 8, 2009 at 7:11 pm Micki said...
(-: Love this blog, love the comments! And I love the way you name your drafts . . . the “Don’t Look Down” and now the “Truck Draft” . . . . (-: Why is writing so dangerous? LOL! (Don’t answer that — rhetorical.)
On November 8, 2009 at 9:36 pm Beki said...
What do you call the My-Teenage-Son-Won’t-Behave-Long-Enough-For-Me-To-Write-Anything-Meaningful Draft? That’s the one I’m working through. He’s killing me, ladies. Killing me.
I am inspired to change my POV for a short story, perhaps when I finish NaNo because I’m going to have finished the first draft of this mss (yes, I CAN) and I’ll need some breathing weeks before revising. So, thanks for a great idea. It really does sound like a vacation!
On November 8, 2009 at 10:26 pm GatorPerson said...
Ah ha! So that’s the reason so many novels are in 1st POV. I knew there had to be a reason. I mentally convert them to 3rd POV, I dislike 1st so much.
On November 8, 2009 at 10:32 pm Marta said...
When Liz slaloms into the mud trying to get the bear out of her car, I really wanted in on what the cop was thinking. Since we’d have gotten in with third limited, you’d think I’d hold that against the first person POV. Yet, it didn’t bother me at all, and that’s significant in that it indicates I found the depth of the scene satisfying.
On November 9, 2009 at 12:30 am Jenny said...
You know, you wouldn’t have gotten it in third limited. The scene would still have been in Liz’s POV, so you wouldn’t have gotten his thoughts.
Omniscient would give you his thoughts, but it’s way too distant for this kind of story.
On November 9, 2009 at 8:38 pm Marta said...
I should have said we’d have gotten it eventually.
But, until you pointed it out, I wasn’t taking into account it wouldn’t be in the same scene. Regardless, this scene didn’t leave me with that ‘ate the meal, but I’m still hungry’ feeling I sometimes get from first person.
On November 9, 2009 at 12:53 am helen said...
Jenny said that one of the reasons she posted her first chapter is so that we’d have a jumping off spot to talk about NaNo, so let me share this if I may.
One of the main characters in my NaNo is a wild skunk. Around Chapter 3 the teenager decides he needs a name and I had to agree. I was tired of referring to it as the skunk. But too tired to come up with one. So I plugged “skunk name” into Google, and came up with this page: http://www.languageisavirus.com/pet-names/skunk-name-generator.html
That’s right, a skunk name generator. It’s also an iguana name generator, etc. (Don’t we love the Internet?”)
The suggestions are ludicrous, of course. But after a few throwbacks (Prettyboy Jamaal Biggie and Carmen Shadow Cloudy) came this keeper: Bambino Squirt Bonzo. Squirt for short.
Oh, and about three paragraphs of “how he found that name,” that I’m plugging right in to NaNo. Feel free to visit, should your opus need a name.
On November 9, 2009 at 7:00 am DownUnderGal said...
Please DO NOT get run over by a truck
On November 9, 2009 at 9:54 am Laura said...
Okay the art history minor in me is coming out – So your third person POVs are Rembrandts (layers of color and texture) and your first person POVs are Monets (spontaneity and light).
On November 9, 2009 at 7:20 pm Jenny said...
I wrote a whole post in reply to this, so thank you, Laura!
On November 9, 2009 at 6:31 pm Mrs.MJ said...
I love how you write first-person POV, you have such a sassy, dry way of putting things. Liz really sounded natural to me, a lot like a girlfriend I know.