I haven't yet heard back from either of the agents who are reading ECHOES at present (one partial, one full), so there are no updates on the publishing/not-being-published front yet. However, I do have a significant update re. CLOCKWORK.
Point of view.
I started writing it in first, but it's suddenly struck me that it might do better to be in third person instead. This is obviously a pain in the rewriting sense, but fortunately I haven't written much of it yet. This may seem like a small change to be making to some, but it's actually quite important. I often write in first person, but I have written in third before, and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. In writing ECHOES, first person put me in my protagonist's head, and the reader spends their time there too. And I think that works. I think a lot of the book's strength (in my biased opinion) is in Echo's voice, thoughts and the way her character and feelings are so clear right through.
With CLOCKWORK, with a lot of secrets at work and a prickly and ruthless yet fiercely loyal heroine, I think the third person will work better. I need other characters to see my heroine, to have the reader see her through their eyes. I need to get into my male protagonist's head. And, with a lot of the book relying on humour, I think that works better when there are multiple perspectives. It's an oddly powerful feeling.
Let's see how it goes.
How do other people feel about this? What's your preferred point of view, to read or to write?
well, both of my writing attempts have been 3rd person. i think its a hangover from three years of refusing to use the word 'I' in essays...
ReplyDeleteand i quite like third person books that cycle between a few characters, even if they're different 'sides'... gives you more points of view, me likey.