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I've been trying to write fantasy for quite some time now. I recently posted the first 13 of the latest incarnation of my never-ending fantasy novel. I had written it in biography form, mostly for a change of pace, but also as a desperate attempt to lend more reality to my world. Survivor's comments made me re-evaluate the effect this had on the story; it made it funny.
I am having constant trouble making characters and plots more than a romanticized version of some ideal. I want them to be (believably) earthy, without being mere transplants from our world. I'm sure there is a simple answer (that isn't so simple to implement), but I would be happy to hear everyone's thoughts on this.
posted
Okay, after several hours of morose contemplation I think I may have come to a helpful revelation. I've decided that one of the main problems I have with writing this story (and have always had) is that the MC is not a very sympathetic character, especially at first. He is arguably not even fully human (having lived for so long outside of society). He eventually grows into the society, but is never normal, even by the most accepting terms.
However, his best friend is a fairly symptathetic character, raised in an aristocratic family and educated from the beginning of the story. I think that it would be more interesting to be inside of his head.
So, I'm thinking about telling this story from the first person perspective of the best friend even though the main character is someone else. I've seen this done before (A Seperate Peace and The Great Gatsby come to mind) but there are some things that I want to include that the author wasn't there for. Here's my solution.
I'm thinking about having the narrator write this story in the last years of his life, to try and set the record straight on everything that happened in their lives. He has reconstructed the parts of the story that he wasn't present for...
Keep in mind that this is all fantasy if that makes a difference (which it seems to do)
... to explain all this I am planning on putting a prologue at the beginning, written from the narrator's perspective. In light of the discussions we've had so far (and the fact that I don't think this would make a very good hook), I want the reader to skip the prologue until they reach the point where they are wondering how the narrator knows all these things, then they can go back and read it.
Is that completely unreasonable or is there some better way of doing this that I have missed/forgot?
I think that a story is always best told by the main people involved. Also I think that it isn't reasonable to allow one of your characters to explain something that he wasn't presant for.
Maybe you're thinking too hard about it. I know it sounds cheezy, but let your story tell you who the voice is.
Try asking yourself some questions about it:
1. Is it a character driven story or an event driven story? 2. Is your main character sympathetic enough? Are we as a reader going to care about what's happeneing to him? (The best way to ensure this, I think, is to allow the reader to see through his eyes--at least for part of the story) 3. Does your story HAVE to be told by only one person?
If you're worried about your story being told in a cliche way, then delving deep into the characters and the environment they're in is, IMHO, the best way to keep this from happening. Like wbriggs said: "Concrete, sensory detail from their world..." You have to get the reader to feel the World, and experiance the character's plight. Of course, that seems to be the rub of the whole thing.
I had this same problem with my novel. In the end I decided to allow secondary characters to tell us the beginning of the story and then let the main characters weave their way in until they took it over. I have no way of explaining how I decided to do it this way other than: it's just what felt right.
Have any of you read the big U by Neal Stephenson? I don't know what public opinion is of this book, but I thought he managed the pov well enough even though the narrator was actually a character in the story.
Argh! I hate POV problems!
How distinct do you feel that a POV switch has to be? a new paragraph? a new section? a new chapter? Argh.
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Switching POV - In my opinion, if you do it by the paragraph, and you do this several times in just a few paragraphs then you are really writing in omni POV.
I try to switch with a new scene. You can do a whole new chapter as well.
To avoid confusion, I always start the first sentence of a new POV character's account with the new POV character's name, or at least have their name in the first few sentences somewhere. If I can't manage that, then I always make sure to mention their name before anyone elses. People tend to latch onto the first name mentioned and assume that that person is the POV character.
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I find your perspective with the character that has disconnected himself with society far more interesting then the sypathetic character. His view on society from the place he was before would be interesting, and he can always learn sympthay from his friend. Just my idea, but I figured I would put it out there.
I also don't think you should put the last years of a characters life in the begining of a story, and then go back in time. Because I find that the chance of a character dieing makes the realism factor go up. The reader knows your character is gonna live through his most traumtic moments if you do it the way your thinking of doing it; making the traumatic moment less, and losing some of that emotional suspense with the reader. Again these are just my ideas though, and I might be totaly off subject, because I feel a little confused.
posted
I've been struggling with this similar grounding issue in my stories, which tend to border on excessive idealism (though I might be too critical of my own work--no one has ever given me such feedback).
Something I found that has helped, is creating and working into the story one or two clearly visible flaws about the main character. As well, as making at least one of those flaws a definite barrier for him to overcom the main obstacle that the tale hinges on.
Otherwise, I find my "hero" ends up being all too perfect. Confronting her with a own fatal flaw, as the real obstacle behind her story's crisis, has made her seem much more real. More human.
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Ratlance said: "I find your perspective with the character that has disconnected himself with society far more interesting then the sympathetic character. His view on society from the place he was before would be interesting..."
I second that.
Only *you* know where the tale is taking the characters, but when in doubt go with your main guy. He knows himself better than anybody else in the tale and a reader will, more than not, like him for his oddities.
As to breaks in POV, I've mostly been informed to at least leave a gap between shifts. As a reader I perfer a whole new chapter. Frequent shifts can become confusiong to most readers. I read one novel where the author shifted every five hundred words or so. It drove be crazy! The story's impact was lost under a mountain of annoyance.
I know this is a stressful problem, and I may have some advice that will help. Brace yourself...
You're more than likely going to want to hit me for saying this, but maybe you should set it aside for awhile and start something new. Sometimes when we let things rest and then go back to them later everything is clearer.
...I never do this of course, but I've heard it's a good idea.
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Oh, yes, that is hard advice, because see...I've done that. I'm just coming back to it after not really writing anything for almost six months. Maybe you're right though, maybe I should wait even longer, I'm doing to some work to compile everything I've ever written in this world about this character and it comes out to about 90,000 words (some of which are pretty scant). You would think I could have figured out something as simple as this by now.
Posts: 175 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Do you love this main character and have deep interest in him? I would hate to see you drop out of his mind if you have a lot of interest vested in him, making the reader and yourself view him from the distant angle of the narrator/friend. Of course, if you find yourself more drawn to this friend and his perspectives, the switch in methods might be what you're looking for. If you care about him I think you can make us care too. Believablilty is probably part of the trick, as others have said. Since he is from a different situation that might not mean that we need to share common issues with him, but that we see and experience through his eyes. Get us in his head as has been said around here before.
What about the idea of writing from a later point where you see and feel the character clearly and then when done go back and write the beginning? You will have aquired the tone and style you want as well as knowing your character in-story. Then you can grapple with how to write from the unique persepective that he will have when first coming to civilization. It sounds very intriguing to me from what you have explained if it were in the original main character's POV...IF you like him.
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