Writing point of view

Current word count: 8,453

Words written today: 710

Words to goal: 41,547/462 per day til end of September

I woke up too late to write yesterday, so had two days of no writing. It made me determined to get up early this morning, and I rolled out of bed a little after 5. Ugg! I’m now really tired, but I did 710 words, so that makes it worth it.

So far, the story is still swimming along. In this book, my POV will be shifting from time to time between two different characters, and up til now, I have just been writing in one of the character’s POV. Tomorrow morning, I’ll be switching to the other’s POV, and I’m a little intimidated. I don’t know that character as well as yet. But I’ll get to know him during the writing.

A few years ago, I was told at a writers retreat that children’s books are usually single POV and that’s what I should be writing. I agree that most books are in single POV, but there are exceptions, and they work fine. I don’t know yet how successful mine will be, but it’s a necessity for the story, I think, at least the way the story is going now. It’s either that or have none of it in the kid’s POV, which I don’t want.

The best part is, this is just the first draft. This is where I can try out different things. The final draft might not be in split POV. I don’t know. But the important thing is to try doing your story in different ways and see what works best. For now, I’m doing split POV.

Anyone else writing in split POV?

How are your word counts coming?

Write On!

 

8 Responses

  1. massacreofsanity says:

    I often switch to another character’s POV. It’s third person, yes, but it counts. I like how Stephenie(sp?) Meyer switched character views while writing in 1stPOV, and I may try that with my new project. My goal is 35,000 words, and I really think I can beat it. I haven’t written 500 words yet today, but I just started. Either way, I’m on the first chapter, and it’s coming along great. As for the first draft thing, that really is the best part. When you switch to the character you don’t know very well, you will get to know him/her. Then when you go back and edit, when you come to that narration, it will be better and have depth. : )

  2. Casey says:

    I have a novel in my “trunk” that switches 1st POV between two characters. It was fun but challenging. Part of me feels like that book needed two POVs, but honestly, I think I just wasn’t willing to figure out which POV character had a more interesting story to tell. If I went back to it now, I think I would revise it to have one POV and I actually think that would be more effective.

    I’m still working on my newest plot summary. I’m trying to get it done today, and I’m hoping this is the last one. LOL. So, if things go as planned, I can start reporting on my revision progress tomorrow.

  3. I’m ashamed to say I haven’t read any of the Twilight books yet (I write middle grade so I tend to read middle grade), but I’d be interested to see how the split first-person POV worked. I would have thought that would be weird for the reader, but obviously not, judging by the success of the books. 🙂

    Congrats on trying split first-person, Casey. It’s always good to try things and see what sticks. You learn a lot.

    Mine is 3rd person split between two people. We’ll see how it works.

    Good luck with your word count, Massacreofsanity. Glad to hear it’s going well.

    And good luck with your plot summary, Casey. Hope you get it done today. 🙂

  4. my wife and i are writing a book; she from her pov and me from mine. it’s coming slowly but surely. 13 chapters posted so far.

  5. I wouldn’t worry about that now, Samantha. My first YA novel was in alternating POVs and it worked fine. You can always change it during revisions.

    I had a good Wednesday and wrote about 1319 words. For my challenge, I broke 20K. Yay!

  6. Sounds like he said/she said, Flighttoinsanity. Very interesting. Good luck with it.

    Karen, 1319! That’s wonderful. A great day. And breaking 20K. Congratulations. Keep it going.

  7. beth says:

    I am switiching POV every other chapter…and I love writing that way! 🙂

  8. Thanks, Beth. I’ve been trying to figure out how to best work it with my characters. But I did some more research on the subject today and found some great info to help me get my head around it — and to kick my butt to just try it. Check it out: http://daybydaywriter.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/excellent-post-on-point-of-view/

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