Hi Everyone,
Been a bit under the weather and have finally joined the living. Well, at least joined the writing. When you feel lousy, your fingertips even hurt. I haven’t written much in these past two weeks. But today, I’m back. Taking a couple weeks off from writing did help. It gave me time to just think about how to tackle my next book. I had a good solid two chapters complete, then got sick. I spent many a day blowing my nose, watching Netflix and staying pretty much to myself. I didn’t want to infect anyone. Being alone with my thoughts has had both positive and negative effects. Lucky for me, the positive outweighed the negative. It gave me a bit of direction on how to drive my next book and in what point of view I should be using to tell the story.
I naturally began this new book in first person. I like first person. In this point-of-view, the main character and the reader develop a relationship. Many times the main character is the protagonist. The reader takes a journey with him or her as they make discoveries and overcome obstacles. You have access to the character’s inner thoughts and feelings. I used first person when writing “Bird.” You went along eagerly with Ellen on her search for the truth. You wanted her to be successful in her quest. By the time the story ended, you knew Ellen and felt something for her. That’s the kind of connection I wanted in book two. But my two week unplanned sabbatical illness changed my course.
I was excited about the direction my plot line was going. I was struggling with how to truly get in the heads of some of these other important characters. So, I sat down and changed my first two chapters. I went from first person to third person. It pained me to do it, but it gave me the option of knowing what direction might really work. Changing my point-of-view now frees me to move fluidly through my story. I now have the power to know what’s inside the heads of all my characters. I know what they are thinking and feeling. I’m not restricted. I’m going to continue in third person and see how it goes. This will allow me some exploration into writing areas I haven’t spent much time practicing. My takeaway from this is that it’s okay to try something new, something unfamiliar to you as a writer. It’s going to be a stretch for me to write in third person, but I’m up for the challenge. Playing it safe isn’t always the best choice.
We shall see. Have a great rest of the week. I plan on it!
Cheers!
