Writer's Group Rant
Jan. 20th, 2003 08:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serafina20Here's my theory about my writing in first person:
If I were to read a bunch of "How to Write" books, and advice on how to form the narrative of my novel, I wouldn't be able to find my own voice. And if frustrates me that my writing group--one guy in particular--can't see that.
I'm currently writing a novel in first person. I know from personal experience, that writing in first person can be a bitch. The first time I tried it was about five years ago. I'd started a novel when I was in high school and, the more I wrote it, the more twisted around I got. So I decided to write from the beginning of the character's life in first person, mainly when the first line struck me: I was the product of a union between a prostitute and a pirate.
At first, it really worked for me. I wrote about fifty pages in the first draft, from the characters birth until she became captain of the pirate ship. And then I floundered because, ultimately, the book wasn't about Adrienne Stone, pirate captain. It was about her journey from being closed off emotionally to learning to love her family, herself, and the hero of the novel. It was pretty much a romance novel, for all intents and purposes. So, the first person didn't work.
Two years ago, I started writing a novel based off a fanfic I wrote in the "Angel" fandom. That one came in third person quite easily because it was many character's story. Unfortunately, after 250 pages, I didn't have much plot and I was stuck as how to set up the world effectively to get rid of pages and pages of exposition. So I didn't know what to do.
Then I came across a draft of a novel I started when I was a sophomore in high school. It was called "Kali, the Dark Goddess" and about the first vampire ever. Since my other novel was a vampire novel, I realized that Kali would be the perfect way to set up the world. Plus, I could practice jumping right into the action, instead of building up to it.
I started the novel in third person, and something seemed very off. It didn't feel immediate enough, and the tension I wanted wasn't there. So I tried again; still didn't work. Since I was having so much trouble, I switched to first person. I never meant to stay in first person; I didn't want to run into the same problems I did with Adrienne. The thing is, though, the more I wrote (or thought about it), the more sense it became to write in first person. Kali is the only one in the novel that doesn't know what's going on. I want the reader to be kept in the same confusion that she is, as well as to really feel what she's going through. Plus, it's her story and no one else's. There are other characters who affect her story (Gabriel, Garrison, and Killian are the main ones), but they need to be viewed through her eyes.
So, I'm forging ahead in first person. But this one man at the writer's group is insisting I'm making a mistake. I haven't gone to two meetings, and he's been bringing the book that told him how hard first person is to show me. Which is really sweet, and I'm glad that he wants me to succeed. And he may be perfectly right, and I'll get to the middle of "Dark Goddess" and not know what to do. But, that needs to be my discovery that I find out by getting there. It shouldn't be told to me by him or a man who has never met me and therefore can't take all things into account.
I'm at a very Zen place about writing right now, if Zen is the right word. My goal is not to write to get published. I'd like to be a published writer. I will try to publish the book. But I’m not on a timetable, and the main thing I want to do right now is get the story out of me and into the world. That's my goal. That's what I want to do. Every time I've finished a fanfic, I've felt relieved and lighter. The story is out of me, the characters of that moment are gone, and I can move onto the next evolution.
So, first person might be a mistake. Or, it might be exactly what my book needs. But if I don't discover the voice of the novel for myself, then it's not going to be written to my satisfaction. I just wish the group could understand that.
If I were to read a bunch of "How to Write" books, and advice on how to form the narrative of my novel, I wouldn't be able to find my own voice. And if frustrates me that my writing group--one guy in particular--can't see that.
I'm currently writing a novel in first person. I know from personal experience, that writing in first person can be a bitch. The first time I tried it was about five years ago. I'd started a novel when I was in high school and, the more I wrote it, the more twisted around I got. So I decided to write from the beginning of the character's life in first person, mainly when the first line struck me: I was the product of a union between a prostitute and a pirate.
At first, it really worked for me. I wrote about fifty pages in the first draft, from the characters birth until she became captain of the pirate ship. And then I floundered because, ultimately, the book wasn't about Adrienne Stone, pirate captain. It was about her journey from being closed off emotionally to learning to love her family, herself, and the hero of the novel. It was pretty much a romance novel, for all intents and purposes. So, the first person didn't work.
Two years ago, I started writing a novel based off a fanfic I wrote in the "Angel" fandom. That one came in third person quite easily because it was many character's story. Unfortunately, after 250 pages, I didn't have much plot and I was stuck as how to set up the world effectively to get rid of pages and pages of exposition. So I didn't know what to do.
Then I came across a draft of a novel I started when I was a sophomore in high school. It was called "Kali, the Dark Goddess" and about the first vampire ever. Since my other novel was a vampire novel, I realized that Kali would be the perfect way to set up the world. Plus, I could practice jumping right into the action, instead of building up to it.
I started the novel in third person, and something seemed very off. It didn't feel immediate enough, and the tension I wanted wasn't there. So I tried again; still didn't work. Since I was having so much trouble, I switched to first person. I never meant to stay in first person; I didn't want to run into the same problems I did with Adrienne. The thing is, though, the more I wrote (or thought about it), the more sense it became to write in first person. Kali is the only one in the novel that doesn't know what's going on. I want the reader to be kept in the same confusion that she is, as well as to really feel what she's going through. Plus, it's her story and no one else's. There are other characters who affect her story (Gabriel, Garrison, and Killian are the main ones), but they need to be viewed through her eyes.
So, I'm forging ahead in first person. But this one man at the writer's group is insisting I'm making a mistake. I haven't gone to two meetings, and he's been bringing the book that told him how hard first person is to show me. Which is really sweet, and I'm glad that he wants me to succeed. And he may be perfectly right, and I'll get to the middle of "Dark Goddess" and not know what to do. But, that needs to be my discovery that I find out by getting there. It shouldn't be told to me by him or a man who has never met me and therefore can't take all things into account.
I'm at a very Zen place about writing right now, if Zen is the right word. My goal is not to write to get published. I'd like to be a published writer. I will try to publish the book. But I’m not on a timetable, and the main thing I want to do right now is get the story out of me and into the world. That's my goal. That's what I want to do. Every time I've finished a fanfic, I've felt relieved and lighter. The story is out of me, the characters of that moment are gone, and I can move onto the next evolution.
So, first person might be a mistake. Or, it might be exactly what my book needs. But if I don't discover the voice of the novel for myself, then it's not going to be written to my satisfaction. I just wish the group could understand that.
