Usually most of my stories is the whole narrative kind of ordeal, I've never wrote one where the characters have wrotten the story. I actually suck at it, so I decided to try something new. I want to try writting a story where the characters write the story from their POV. That way the reader can see the world as they see it and such. So, here's why I post it, I'm wondering if there are any severe points I should try to watch out for when writing like this. I know the basic concepts about writing stories I've been doing it since I was.... four or five years old ><. Anyways, feel free to give any advice. Also if you have your own writing challenge you want to face feel free to post, I'm curious as to what my fellow writers are currently up to.
Keep your character POV separate. Don't float freely from one to the next. For any particular scene. stay with one POV. Better yet, only switch POVs at chapter boundaries. Make each person's narration consistent with that character's voice. Perhaps a bit less casual, because narration takes place at a time removed from the action, when the narrator is recalling the events and has the time to organize his or her thoughts.
the best way to learn how to do that well is to READ... read lots of third person character pov stories/books by the best writers, to see how they do it...
I think this is something really important to note. When you tell the story from the perspective of a character, you have to make sure that each character doesn't sound like the rest. People talk differently, and you have to put the story in their words. Maybe one character uses Southern slang like "y'all" and "ain't," and maybe another speaks with perfect English. If a child is your narrator, they wouldn't use the same words or tone that their mother or father would. They wouldn't notice the same things about a situation that an adult would. If a person believes in paranormal events, they wouldn't agree with the interpretation of an event given by their skeptical friend. A scientist sees things differently than an artist. You really have to take each character and precisely define what qualities make them unique and use that to guide your narration. Not everyone talks, thinks, acts or processes things like you do. Just make sure that it's the characters that are doing the work, and not just extensions of yourself. By the way, Maia is right as always. READ READ READ READ READ! Tracy Chevalier is a good example of how to develop different characters' narration styles in Falling Angels, and so is Barbara Kingsolver in The Poisonwood Bible. Take a look at the works of others to learn as much as you can.
I love writing stories with a lot of POVs, so the reader can get a better look at the picture than any of the characters. You do need to be consistent. If you are in one character's head, you have to stay there, and write in his voice, and react with his prejudices. No matter how tempting, you can't jump mid-scene to another character.
I'm working on something similar to that, its kind of fun and more interesting. Sometimes I find it easier because then I can write things from different prespectives and its a way I can get to know my important characters better. Be careful though, because it can also get confusing and you may end up confusing your readers as well as yourself.
Take a look at Falkner's "As I lay dying". Its a great example of what I suspect you are wanting to do. There are free versions available if you google it.
I have 3 main challenges in writing: 1. I have a tendency to unconciously switch between present and past tense while writing. 2. I almost never plan out what I want to happen, I just write first, figure out what I want to happen half-way through the 2nd chapter XD 3. Because of #2 above, I tend to not edit. In my school papers, the first draft I write is the final (with some minor edits) unless I am specifically asked for a rough draft. I hope joining this site will help me find some tips to make my writing better!
