Hi Everyone, I'm putting a novel together and really well advance with my Main Character as we move through her life experiences good and bad. I've written this with the exception of some background material, as first person POV in real time. This has come together really well (I think). But I felt that the secondary characters she interacts with good, and many bad (because of her lifestyle choices) were a bit dull and their agenda's were not always clear. They did not really have their own voice, we only see how she responds to what they are saying or doing at the time. The novel when I started was clearly going to be erotica, however it seems to be morphing into something else, I'm just not sure what that something else is The thought I have had (I must have seen it elsewhere before I started trying to be an author, but it did not register at that time where - nothing is truly a new idea) - back to my thought - At the end of each chapter some of the other key characters appearing in that chapter briefly discuss the main chapter events from their POV showing contradictions and revealing plot elements that the Main Character is blissfully unaware of. e.g. Her very trusted husband who we see is a nice caring guy in the main chapter, reveals his true nature when he discusses the key parts of the chapter in his own words as something in the past and his murky background comes to the fore. This way the reader may identify with her and may be screaming, "What, is she blind, can't she see him for what he really is?" and be desperate to read the next chapter. I'm aware that I could simply change to a different POV in the main chapter and write her too in third person or narrator, but the way I am trying feels as if it adds a slightly different storyline to her own beliefs that I hope should add more suspense. I'm beginning to thing it is easier to compose my novel than word the questions I want to ask on here. Thanks for taking the time to read this. It's done me good just putting down my garbled thoughts
That's an unusual approach. One of the joys of first person, or limited third person, is that you don't get all the puzzle pieces and have to put them together yourself, along with the main character. My hunch is that what you're doing will actually lessen suspense. Erotica is usually told either through one limited POV or one limited POV for each of the main sexual partners (e.g. the man and the woman in a traditional M/F erotica). I think authors need a good reason to break out of genre conventions - because those conventions exist for a reason - and I'm not sure you have a good reason.
I can see this working really well. In my imagination, this would feel like being friends with someone in real life who happens to be in an abusive relationship and everybody except that person knows this and the friends of that person are just waiting for shit to hit the fan, rooting for that friend to finally get out of that terrible thing. If you manage to make the main protagonist really likeable (= give us reason to root for her) this could probably turn out well in a Fuck-I-hope-she-makes-it-way. Similar to what we feel when we see a likeable character making his/her way out of danger in horror movies. But I also imagine it would be a real challenge... Throwing a few hints here and there for your main character to pick up over the course of the story, simultaneously making the other characters of the story react to what had happened in the meantime... I think it would be a tough write but I would also be curious to read the result .
Thank you for the feedback, it's good to hear your views. It comes down to what genre my story really is, as I write my imagination has taken me in several unforeseen directions. I suppose that's the danger of creating a MC loosely based on a little fantasy I had - obvious choice was erotica. In giving life to that MC and creating the story of where she came from, who she is etc, I have found I have grown close to her, feel for her, want her to achieve a goal - she is more than a short skirted bimbo out for a quickie. I think I need to do more research into the range each genre covers. I have a character (albeit flawed) that I now know very well, maybe she needs to do something different with her life.
Thank you for the response and taking the time to read my ramblings. I accept it is going to be a tough write, I'm doing something new, something for me for once, I have to accept it and step up to the challenge. I'm sure a few G&T's will help/be necessary. I think you have understood my posting perfectly - she is a character to root for, very strong in some ways but she has some flaws - call them fantasies based on a world that doesn't really exist (she reads a lot and loves the Damsel in Distress theme, sadly no dashing hero might be about to rescue her). My original thought was erotica - got to have some naughty bits in the story - evil kidnapper doing not so nice things to her. I did come up with some quite heavy scene about what fuelled some of her fantasies then realised it was not really PC to write about them. Perhaps I should make it a horror and just pile everything in? I'm rambling again ... Growing pains of a new (hope to be) Author
Writing about the horrors of a terrible relationship can quite often be even more disturbing than 'Scary beings eating everyone alive'-kind of horror in my opinion . I guess I can't really help you with picking a genre... Why not blend it? There's nothing holding you back from putting in some 'heavy scenes' in any genre in my opinion (except stories aimed at children obviously). Horror and sex also have a long tradition of going along nicely, else we wouldn't have all those 'Breasty McBoobs runs away from her torturer covered in blood'-movies.
Can't you get that with just the 'victim's' POV, though? I know I would find that more gratifying, as a reader, than being told it straight from the abuser's mouth.
I'm not sure. The way this works in my head means that the 'victim' wouldn't really know she's a victim for a long time...? The way I would write this would probably be something like 20-30 pages of a depiction of the Everything's-awesome-life, then the cut to the next chapter and the following thoughts or actions of that husband who turns out to be an A-grade asshole but conceals that very effectively in their marriage - which would then leave the wife having to figure all of that out. It's like when TV crime shows first started to show who the killer was in the very beginning of an episode. The viewers job wasn't to be on edge all the time anymore but rather hoping the detective solves the mystery and admiring his/her skills to get there. Our theoretical victim would have to pick up little clues here and there to figure out what the reader already knows. I don't know if that's satisfying or not, I've never read anything like it, so who knows, I could be totally wrong. Can you get all of that from the victim's perspective? Maybe... I'm not sure.
You definitely can. To take a popular example, how many readers figured out Snape's backstory several books before J K Rowling revealed it to Harry? Harry, the POV character, didn't have a clue. Millions of readers did. Would the series have been better if, at the end of each chapter with Harry, Snape had a few paragraphs to put his POV forward? I don't think so.
Actually changing POV is done a lot. When it is done though, the WHOLE chapter is in one character's POV or else it could be confusing. I re-read "Ordinary People" by Judith Guest over the holidays and she does it. The first chapter is the narrator POV, then the second Chapter is the MC, Conrad, and then there are Chapters for the father, then mother. I've read books about relationships and the chapters alternate POV between the man and the woman. But the whole chapter is in one point of view.
This is helping me to rationalise my thoughts and put more questions together. It may be I am enjoying too much the taking my character on her life journey. From her POV everything is slowly moving towards her trying to fulfil her unachievable fantasy world. She is enjoying the journey and has no knowledge of the dark forces gathering around her. The other key character POV's reveal that the dark forces are gathering or are in conflict with her beliefs but do not spell out what they actually plan for her other than something nasty. In many ways if she knew the dark forces were there she only needs to give in to them to achieve a taste of her fantasy world. I'm sure this is becoming a horror story. I probably need to flesh it out a bit more and share a synopsis. Thanks for listening.
Thank you for that insight, I will check out Judith Guest's book. My concept of splitting the chapter was that I wanted the other characters to relate to what she experienced in that chapter alone.
You can do it with them having their own chapter, even if the chapter is short. If you don't, I'm telling you it will be confusing. Check out how Judith Guest does it and you'll see. Good Luck!
Well, not always. The POV transition should be clear, but it's not mandatory that it be specifically at the chapter level.
That actually works for me, I probably need to identify the chapter name in some way so the reader realises that it is what I would term as the flip side of the previous chapter
Sadly not available as an ebook, we have a big second hand bookstore nearby, will see if they have a copy
I've seen it done with just the chapters numbered. It's how you begin the first sentence that is key. For instance: "I know my Dad thought it was all my fault, but really, this is how it happened..." Just an example. It's how you transition it. ******************** This might help until you get the book: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/ordinarypeople/section1/
I would disagree, though perhaps I'm biased, because what the OP's trying to do is exactly what I have done in my WIP. I have 4 key POVs (Two male - the protag and antag - and two female who occupy the subplots) and on several occasions I do use this to create suspense in the way the OP described, where basically the reader has more information than the characters. I enjoy writing this way because I love exploring every character's perspective on the situation. Two alpha readers have been through the whole thing and seemed to have enjoyed it Hopefully the betas will feel the same. However, thinking about it, it makes me wonder if I may enjoy omniscient POV even more than close third. But I have little interest in making an invisible narrator into a character with a unique voice, so not sure.
Thank you, I appreciate your insight. It is my intention for the reader to know more than the main character, my hope is that they root for her hoping she will discover the truth of her every day life and they will also be thinking how will she get herself out of this difficult situation. I have loved writing my main character in first person, sharing her sometime nave view of the world around her. Then switching to third person and creating the dark forces that are gathering behind her and also some other characters on these that see things differently to her. I appreciate that a lot of books work really well in the surprise element of not knowing what is coming I'm trying to create a what will she do what will they do element in lots of places.
