The last couple of weeks have thrown a little bit of turmoil, but even more clarity, when it comes to writing my novel.
As I said recently I have started to work on my first complete edit of my novel. I finished a first draft and my aim is to get a full edit, ready for people to read, done by the end of the year. So, I started right at the start, and as I began re-editing I decided to take my newly redone old chapters to the writing group I go to every week.
Two weeks ago I took along my third chapter, hoping that my vast re-edits would prove worthy.
The news was positive and negative. People said they loved what I was doing with characters — I was getting the emotions and actions right and they could see my characters acting in the way that I am making them act. In other words they thought I was creating a compelling story. BUT they said that while they love what is happening, the way I was writing it was not compelling enough. My writing did not have enough emotional pull. The emotions I were describing were good, but the problem was that I was describing them — not showing them to the reader.
In doing so one person suggested I switch my point of view.
I’ll explain that a bit. In my current draft everything is written in third person. I describe my characters with a “he” or “she” or “they” lens. I am an overarching narrator who can see everything that is happening to a character, including what is going in their minds. Third person is great for this sort of narration — you can create an entire picture for a character that explains exactly what is going on. Yet, at the same time it can be difficult to get into a character’s mind. While you can definitely do it it is harder to express their internal thoughts — to really create a picture of what they think is going on.
But my friend suggested I switch to first person. First person, told entirely through the lens of the character, is far more personal. You live entirely in someone’s head, and therefore can only tell the story through that lens. That makes it hard sometimes — if there is something the character does not know you cannot include it — even if it is important to the story. More than that, some people find first person claustrophobic. You cannot escape your characters’ mind, potentially making you feel trapped inside.
When I started my book I got caught wondering which of these voices I should use and reading a lot I decided on third person because, at least according to most blogs, it seemed like the most common and easiest way to write. It is the standard form.
But in trying first person over the last few weeks I have realised that doesn’t matter. I gave a few chapters a shot in first person and felt almost released. The words flowed much easier and more importantly I was able to tap in to the minds of my characters. I can hear their voices in my head and it is much easier to get them down on paper.
Now, to be sure, I am slightly terrified about this shift. This is a complete re-write of my book and I am worried that part way through I will realise it isn’t working. Or is it a quick fix in my head? Am I facing the big challenge of re-writing and thinking that this is just some easy way out of the difficulties of that work? When working on the novel that is sometimes how I feel — it is a task that feels so huge that sometimes it feels nice to try and find the easy way out.
But at the moment, I don’t think this is the case. I actually think this is harder, but it is something that works much easier. I have passed my first person chapters around to a number of people have have universally been told it works much better. I think it is just that I have finally found my voice.
Anyway, I have rambled. More work to do! To the writing!