Cinderella with a Teddy Bear

On February 18, 2016, WriterGirl4Life wrote, I find that I’m always getting bored with my stories, putting them away, critiquing myself, or just getting bored with my plot. Can you help?

When one of my stories isn’t going well, I just don’t want to go near it, which is my version of getting bored. Working on the project feels like slogging through glue. It’s happened many times, and the reason varies:

∙ We’ve made our MC unsympathetic, a mistake I’ve committed than once and the latest instance is very recent. I think I’ve mentioned that I’ve started a new book in Ella’s world, and my main character, Daria (recognize that name?), is turned into an ogre in the first chapter, so this isn’t much of a spoiler alert. I’m only twenty-two pages in, but I started feeling gluey and eventually realized that likableness is the problem. Instead of responding with horror over her transformation, Daria minimizes the situation and instantly plans how to deal with it. I want her to be capable and self-confident, but these qualities mean the most when a character struggles. In this case, the consequences are that the reader doesn’t worry because Daria has the situation in hand and doesn’t care because Daria doesn’t seem to. The reader may think, I don’t understand this character. If someone turned me into an ogre, I’d want to jump out of my skin.

Once I figured that out, I went back to the beginning–contrary to the advice I give here–and fixed. Daria is now miserable, and I’m out of the glue. So one cause of boredom may be MC character trouble, and one reason for that may be unlikableness caused by a deficit in vulnerability.

∙ We’re not in our MC’s mind and heart enough, which is related to unlikableness. We’re telling our story more through action and dialogue and our MC’s inner life is missing. We’re bored because we can’t seem to connect with him. We may have our plot path worked out, but we don’t know why he goes down it.

I’d go to my notes to consider this. I might interview him in my notes and ask him what he feels and thinks about what’s going on in the story. We may dream up alternative answers for him, and we can decide from them what sort of person he is, or we’d like him to be. We may discover he’s not willing to do some of what’s being required of him. Based on our discoveries, we may adjust our plot or adjust him, which may involve rethinking earlier scenes, whether we revise on the spot or wait until the whole story is written. That done, we can work his thoughts and emotions into our narrative.

∙ We’ve solved the problem in our story without realizing. I did this in an early version of The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre. To be specific would be a major spoiler alert, so I have to speak in generalities. My MC has a mission, but she’s propelled to pursue it only because of a  need that’s deep-seated in her psyche. Accidentally, without realizing and in a tangential way, I solved the need, and the wind went out of my sails. I was trapped in glue until, finally, I saw what I’d done. Let’s take an example from the traditional “Cinderella,” not my version. In my opinion, the underlying problem, and the reason the story appears in some form in every culture, is that the MC feels unappreciated, a near universal source of unhappiness. Cinderella is great! Look at how helpful and capable she is. And kind. And plucky. But the only one who might appreciate her–her father–is never on the scene, and she gets no respect from her step-family. Well, suppose, a year before the balls, her fairy godmother shows up and gives her, say, a magical stuffed teddy bear that can talk. Every night at bedtime, Cinderella cuddles up with her toy and he admires her for all her accomplishments and her sterling qualities. Nothing really has changed; her step-family is still cruel. But she’s satisfied. Who cares about a prince when she has Teddy? We’re likely to stay bored or gluey until somebody wields a sharp instrument and slits that bear open from his cute black nose to his darling belly.

In this case, we may not know why we’re bored, but we can think about what our MC wants or needs most. Have we accidentally provided it? Have we been unable to tolerate her unhappiness so we helped her out just, we thought, a little bit?

∙ Houston, we have a plot problem. I never fail to have some of these, alas. You may remember how tangled up I got writing what eventually became Stolen Magic. In an earlier version, which I eventually revised out of existence, MC Elodie’s mother falls under a spell of greediness. She believes she’s King Midas and doesn’t mind when Elodie seems to turn to gold, because she’d rather, in her madness, have wealth than a living daughter. It was horrifying, and, forgive me!, I loved it. But I didn’t know how to end the spell without making everything okay or without giving Elodie an ally I didn’t want her to have, so the madness dragged on and on, and I sank in glue. I wish I’d figured this out and been able to use this plot twist, but I couldn’t.

We may not have to revise everything. If we’ve written ourselves into a corner, we can go back to the point where we got into trouble, or we can list ways to change what’s going on, and we can judge how we’re doing by our state of mind. Are we no longer bored? Are we eager to write again?

The point is, we’re not stuck with anything. The final state of our story is changeable until we say it’s done. If we save our old version, we can blow up any part. I love this freedom, which is a prime advantage of writing, in my opinion, over every other art form!

Here are three prompts:

∙ In this election season, here’s a political’ish plot idea. Your MC at fifteen is running to be the youngest member of the town council. She has the vote of her parents’ generation, who, basically, think she’s adorable, and that’s enough for them. The problem is the youth vote, because young people near her age but old enough to vote find her unlikable–you decide why. Write the story, being sure to include her thoughts and feelings.

∙ Give Cinderella the admiring teddy bear (or other stuffed animal), but make him creepy. Lead the reader to suspect him right away even while Cinderella is delighted with him. Soon, he adds to her many troubles. Write “Cinderella with a Teddy Bear.”

∙ Snow White has escaped to the dwarfs. The magic mirror breaks, and her evil stepmother goes on thinking she’s been restored to fairest-in-the-land status. Readers all over the universe are yawning. Give her a new problem–the hunter? a problem dwarf? the prince in danger? an approaching asteroid?–and write the story.

Have fun, and save what you write!

52 Responses on “Cinderella with a Teddy Bear”

  1. Bookworm says:

    Thank you so much for the post! It really helped me.
    I have a question. Do you have any advice for creating languages? I’m making one for my book, and I could use some help. I can’t seem to figure out how to put it in my book without confusing the readers! It’s not like the whole book is written in it, but sometimes when the characters are excited or angry, they randomly switch to speaking the language. Any advice?

  2. Nicole says:

    I love the idea of interviewing my MC. She’s conflicted, but I’m starting to feel like she’s so conflicted she’s wishy washy, making her unlikeable, and just slightly annoying. I think figuring her out on a deeper level will help.
    Thank you!

  3. Kitty says:

    Ooh, the Cinderella teddy bear story sounds interesting. Sort of like a 5 Nights at Freddy’s/fairy tale crossover. I just might borrow that idea.

    Speaking of borrowing ideas, I have a dilemma. In my WIP set in the near future, Santa Claus and other folklore figures (the Tooth Fairy, Sandman, Boogeyman, etc.) are real, have revealed their existence to the world, and have become prominent public figures in the social and political sphere. Stuff like Santa’s Christmas present delivery, the Naughty and Nice lists, etc. are all official and run by Santa much like a business. The story is basically about a girl finding out (due to a transportation fluke) on a school trip to the North Pole that Santa is spying on everyone, resulting in her launching an investigation and having to decide what to do with the information she finds. I have an idea for the backstory that would also explain why Santa is being so paranoid, controlling, and manipulative, as well as incorporate all of the facets of the Santa folklore (some of which are pretty dark) and magic: Santa is “powered” by the beliefs of people, especially children, whom he sees himself as a “protector” of. He is also sort of “based on” what people believe, which is how he shifts from the Odin-based old man of the earliest European folklore to the jolly fat man in a red suit as he is known today, to the suave politician-esque figure in my story. The basic driving motivation for him is that

    1. His “duty” to protect children makes him do some unscrupulous things for (what he thinks is) the “greater good”
    2. He needs people to believe in him, because if he doesn’t he’s in trouble, loses his power, could disappear, etc.

    I really like this backstory because it both provides a broad, “misguided for the greater good” and “the end justifies the means” motive, as well as a personal one, survival. Plus it fits with the satirical parallels. (Santa represents the government, and the government gets its power from the people, and it is essentially what the people make of it, etc.)

    My problem is, the idea of a supernatural protector powered by belief has already been done by Terry Pratchett in Hogfather and in Rise of the Guardians. Hogfather goes pretty in depth about how Anthropomorphic Personifications like the Hogfather work, which is basically what I have above, that they exist and have power because people believe in them, and evolve as people’s beliefs change. Rise of the Guardians has Santa as part of a group of guardians protecting the children of the world, who also get their power from kids’ belief. Does my version sound too similar to Hogfather and Rise of the Guardians? Are there any other similar books like this, maybe enough that I can just use it as a general, public domain trope? Any suggestions on what I should do?

    Thanks!

  5. Misplaced Poetry says:

    I think I have the opposite problem than the post. I love my characters. Spend hours figuring them out. Then loose all steam when writing them because I want to get to the good stuff, but the good stuff doesn’t make sense without the backstory stuff. And the backstory stuff is all good and interesting, but I haven’t figured it out as much as the future stuff.
    Then it just boils down to willpower and how high I set my word count for Camp Nano

  6. Song4myKing says:

    Thanks for this post. I think one reason I’m “not feeling it” with one of my WIPs is that I’m not inside my character’s heart and mind enough. This will give me something to work on.

    Interestingly, I was having more trouble a while back with being bored, and the problem then, I think, was essentially the flip side of one of the other troubles you mentioned – having solved the MC’s problem. In my case, my character was miserable and lonely, and I was planning on almost a whole book of her being just as miserable and lonely. I didn’t want to slog through it and didn’t know how to make it bearable and interesting without making it too easy for her. I finally found a solution that I love – gave her a younger girl in the same situation she’s in. A girl just old enough to alleviate the loneliness and misery, but not someone with enough experience or resources to solve the problem. And then I found an added bonus. I quickly thought of a little girl who stepped into my life for a while, stole a piece of my heart, and then was gone again with no way to stay in contact. So in a way it’s like rewriting a story of my own past and changing the ending…

  9. Kathleen says:

    I have two POV characters and I’m having a bit of trouble with them.

    The first is my villain — I’m purposefully trying to make her human but at the same time kind of have these twisted ideas. She kind of shuts the world out, in a way, and she’s very quiet and I’m trying to kind of reflect that in her POV by giving her a character but keeping a few of her motives a bit hidden but still give hints that she has a reason for some of it and still keep her relatable.
    She’s not “good” — but she is the more “socially acceptable” sister in that she’s not clumsy, she behaves herself, she has a great deal of tact, etc.
    She’s fun to write and I feel as if I connect with her, but out of the two friends I’ve asked for critiques, one loves her and the other doesn’t connect. Thoughts?

    The other is my villain’s sister. She is the so called “protagonist” and is very confused about what exactly is going on and disagrees with her sister on a lot of counts which frustrates her. She’s disillusioned herself into thinking she still understands her sister even though she never has and is annoyed when she disagrees and can’t figure out why her sister thinks that way since she thinks she understands her.
    She is very immature, but kind and sweet, and occasionally a bit like the annoying younger sister she is. You get to see her heart a lot more and her confusion and thoughts.
    I don’t enjoy writing from her POV half as much and I’m not sure why. My friends both like her, but I’m not sure if that’s just because she’s more human or why.

    Help?

    Kathleen

    • Martina Preston says:

      Kathleen, it seems like you are more drawn to writing about characters that have more in-depth personalities. Me too! (Although I’m having a bit of trouble with that on one of my WiPs…) In this situation, to get yourself to write more about your kind sister, you could try and make her have a “bad side” too. For example, maybe add a flashback to one time when the sisters were little and the kind sister got super mad about something, and the villainous sister (for lack of a better word) comforted her, or opened up to her about something. That way, the kind sister has a bit more depth, and the villainous sister will be nicer to read about, because you know that she can be sweet. (You could also add somewhere that the villainous sister maybe had a best friend or a boyfriend or something who she really opened up to and shared her mind with, and who turned around and told everyone her deepest secrets. Or something.) This makes characters a bit more relatable, when they are both good and bad. Hope that helps!

          • SAPPHIRE says:

            Hi Kathleen!
            I’m actually writing from the villain’s POV in my WIP, ad I’m loving it! its so exciting to see cruelty blended with mystery, all underlying a truth nobody seems to see.
            Anyways, I think what you can do with the sister is actually put her through some situations that she is really uncomfortable in. look through her development and see what scares her most, what saddens her, what she doesn’t like. Then….like a good little writer…. THROW her into those situations and amplify them tenfold! this will help show the angry/sad/agitated side of the girl, and also show the aftereffects or emotions. such as how she deals with it, who she goes to for help. Having an angry, understanding MC will help in these kind of times, so maybe don’t make her ALL confused over it.Also, maybe the story is in need of another character? a character the girl assumes to be a friend like Martina suggested?

  11. Martina Preston says:

    Thanks for the post, Gail! I have a dilemma, though. I am writing a story that uses a 12-year-old girl’s diary entries as the main storyline. All of the entries sound really happy and bubbly, but there are a few times where my MC is the most serious person on the planet. In one entry, she says “I usually never write when I’m angry…” but the entry right after she is supposedly fuming, she’s back to happy and cheerful. If that made any sense, can someone help me figure out how to better transition her moods?

    • Erica Eliza says:

      I’ve kept a journal every day since I was twelve. One entry will be all “I have no friends and I hate school and my life is ending” and the next is “Yippee! Life is wonderful.” That’s realistic. People’s moods change from day to day. Even if I have a mix of good and bad things happen in one day, I usually don’t write a mixed entry. I either cover happy things I want to remember or bad things I need to get off my chest.

      • Emma says:

        That’s the same with me. Martina Peterson, one way to transition better is to give her several (or more than several) good days in a row, because I know for most people, the good outweighs the bad most of the time. If her life is mostly good, then make her write mostly good entries in her diary. You could do the same thing if her life mostly consists of bad days. I don’t know the situation your MC is in, so if she’s writing her diary while a war is going on in her society, her diary may have more fearful, worried, or sad entries. But I agree with what Erica Eliza said. Normally, diary entries naturally change moods a lot.

  12. Kenzi Anne says:

    So I’ve been hung up on a plot point for my favorite WIP for years, and I’d love any and all advice! In my story, the main characters all come together at the beginning because they need to break a curse that has turned the entirety of their castle’s inhabitants to stone and glass. Most of the story revolves around their adventure trying to find a way to break the curse. My problem? I can’t think of a satisfying way to break the curse! What are they searching for? A spell? A thing? A person? A little of both? Do they need to do some kind of act to break it? I’m open to anything!!

    • Song4myKing says:

      Do THEY know what they’re searching for from the beginning? If they know nothing of how the enchantment started or what to do, a good bit of your plot could be digging for clues. If so, you may not need an difficult cure, because the search is focused on facts rather than a hard to obtain something. But if they know what they’re dealing with early on, you’ll want it in some way hard to find – by distance, by hiding, by reluctance of a person, by a riddle, etc.

      From another angle, if it’s a “typical” cure (spell, potion, wand), you probably want it known early on. If the whole book is about finding out what will break the curse, you’ll likely work up the readers’ expectations, and they hope for something to surprise them.

      Some random ideas for your list –
      It could be an object placed within the castle that needs to be removed or destroyed. This could play out interestingly – they could have walked past this multiple times without knowing there was anything out of the ordinary. (hmm. It could even be a glass/stone statue itself that the MCs assume was a visitor or servant, thus making it hard to identify when they know what they’re looking for). There of course would be many details to work out, like why it affected the ones it did, and not the ones who put it there and the ones breaking the curse.

      It could be doing something with the statues themselves, such as moving them to a specific place or order (maybe the MC’s are told the statues are to be arranged by importance – which in reality is a circle). Or they may need to alter the statues in some way (like carving a heart on their chests, which may or may not leave a mark on the flesh and blood people afterward).

      Think of enchantments you’ve read about, such as ELLA. Don’t copy, but use the methods you find as a springboard. I immediately thought of one I read where castle inhabitants were enchanted because an object had been stolen – I rolled it around in my head and thought, ‘suppose an object was placed, instead?’

      Just curiosity, are you a pantser? Because I couldn’t begin writing if I didn’t know something that big about the climax and resolution!

  13. Emma says:

    I’d try making a list of tons of different options, Kenzi Anne. I have learned from Mrs. Levine that listing helps a lot. If I knew more information about the person behind the curse, then I could help more, but here are a few ideas that popped into my head:
    1. A magical elixir that, when sprinkled on those turned to stone and glass, will free them.
    2. The wand or magical staff of the person who turned them to stone/glass.
    3. The only good wizard or witch left in the whole world, or a special kind of conjurer the protagonists need to break the spell. Perhaps they have to go on a quest to find this special conjurer. Anything could happen while they search for him/her.
    4. The tears of a Phoenix, which are said to be able to heal any wound, and reverse any kind of enchantment. You could make the Phoenix they go searching for a talking, intelligent animal who does not come willingly, or isn’t concerned about humans. This could pose a problem to the protags.
    5. Maybe they learn that to free a person turned to stone or glass, you have to make a huge sacrifice. This could be anything from dying to giving up a prized possession.
    6. The person who turned them to stone has to willingly reverse the curse they cast. The protags would then have to turn a villain into a hero, which can be a tremendous challenge.
    Those are just some ideas. I hope you get unstuck! I know how tough that is, and I’m sure most everyone around here does too.

  14. Bookworm says:

    I’m having name trouble. One of my evil characters (he’s basically second in command to the main villain) seriously needs a first name. I want it to sound a little bit evil, because he’s not human, and his kind is always evil. I also need to figure out some evil names for the main villain’s parents (he’s like 17 years old, so his parents still pop up sometimes.) His parents are also evil. Any ideas?

    • Emma says:

      Poppie’s ideas are right on point. I just wanted to add a couple of things that have helped me in naming characters. The website nameberry.com has been extremely helpful to me, because it provides different lists of different names. There are lists with classic names, unusual names, names inspired by authors, names with animal meanings, and so on. I find it very interesting just to look through all kinds of different names, but of course, I happen to really love naming characters. Also, try what Poppie said about looking up a certain word you want your character to act like in different languages. Google Translate is very helpful when it comes to this, too. I would give you some name ideas, but I don’t know what time period or place your characters are in. What I always do when naming my characters is use the time period and place to come up with names. An example would be if my character lives in medieval times in Italy. The name of that character would differ greatly from a character who lives in outer space in the future. So that could also help you with naming your characters. Where do they live? What time period do they live in? Are they a traditional family and would therefore name their son a traditional name, or are they very eccentric and out there? One last tip: when browsing names, if I find a name I like, even if I don’t have a character to go with the name, I write it down. That way if I need a name later on, I will already have a few to choose from. Plus, you may find, like I have, that name collecting can be very fun. If you wish to share the names you come up with, Bookworm, I would very much enjoy that. But if not, I completely understand. Just a thought. Good luck! 🙂

    • Christie V Powell says:

      Am I having de javu, or have I written this here before? Well, just in case…

      My WIP started with the idea of six clans representing the six colors, so a lot of them have color names or names related to their abilities. For the villains I looked for names that mean dark or black. I also keep a spreadsheet of possible names with their gender, clan(s), and meaning, so whenever I’m writing a new character I have some options to pull from. For the Stygians (evil villains), I’ve got Adrian, Blake, Daren, Donovan, Jett, and Keiran for males; and Ebony, Ciara, and Melanie for girls. I used the initials BG for one villain (bad guy), and I think it would be fun to use NV sometime (envy).
      Also, I find it extra scary when villains start out seeming like nice guys, possibly even with ordinary, decent names. I named my second villain Buzz, which my husband said made him think only of good guys. It’s on purpose.

  15. Poppie says:

    Bookworm: I had the same difficulty as you did at one time! Here are some ideas that helped me.
    First, consider the personalities of your evil family. What is their biggest goal?
    For my villain, I knew that he represents hate. So, I thought of names that sounded “Hateful.”
    Second, try looking at other languages.
    I looked up the word “Hate” in a couple of different languages until I inspired by the Spanish word for “Hate”:
    “Odio”. From that I came up with the name: Odion.
    Here’s an extra tip: Unless you want to deceive the reader, try to stay clear from names that sound “Cute.”
    There’s an antagonist in Star Wars: The Force Awakens who’s name is “Snoke.” One of my brothers told mom about him, and she said: “Snoke? Really? That sounds like something I’d name my puppy!”
    For inspiration, here are the names of my “favorite” bad guys:
    Darth Vader, Lord Palpatine (Star Wars) Draco, Narcissa, and Lucius Malfoy (Harry Potter) Bellatrix Lestrange (also Harry Potter) Pitch Black (Rise Of The Guardians) and Draco Bludvist (How To Train Your Dragon).
    Hope this helped! : )

  16. Bookworm says:

    Poppie: I’ll take your advice on names. Thank you so much! (By the way, I love the Star Wars movies and Harry Potter books!)
    Kenzi Anne: Go through your favorite books, or any fantasy book at all that you like. In Ella Enchanted, Ella breaks her curse by forcing herself to refuse Char’s proposal for the safety of Kyrria. That’s just an example. Maybe your characters have to search for a missing object that protected the castle’s inhabitants from whoever cursed them. Or maybe they have to learn the countercurse. If I had a little more info, I might be able to think up some more if you still need some help. Hope this helped.

  18. Yulia says:

    Hi there! I’m having trouble writing a dystopian novel because I think it might be a little controversial. It’s about a girl who gets sent into the afterlife, but it’s an elaborate dystopia with brainwashing and absolute devotion to a power-hungry hypocritical god. The so-called “angels” are really just delusional slaves and are discarded when their missions are over.
    It’s more of a dystopian story than anything else, but it’s still kind of in that gray area where somebody might interpret it wrong. Do you have any tips for making it less controversial?
    Thanks!

  19. Kenzi Anne says:

    Thanks so much everybody who weighed in on my curse-breaking question! Song4myking, I love the idea of something being placed instead of going missing! I’m seriously looking into that option 😀 and yes, I am very much a pantser! I get bored of I plan things out too much before I begin writing.
    For those of you who asked, the characters get information from a witch early on about who cast the curse (a magical creature who did it as a favor for the series’s sub-villain) and how it should be broken–but it needs to be difficult! My characters do NOT get along, and I need them to bond throughout the course of the story. Thanks so much for everybody’s input! Feel free to keep adding if you have any more ideas–the ones given so far are all phenomenal!!!

    • Song4myKing says:

      Cool! I’d love to see where all that idea might go in someone else’s head!
      But I hope I get a chance to read it some day, whatever method (or combination of methods) work out for breaking the curse.

  20. Chicory says:

    Yulia, about your concern that your book might be too controversial, I don’t know your story so my advice may not help, but I always appreciated in the Marvel Universe that the writers and directors didn’t set up Thor and the other Norse gods as actual deities. They even have Captain America and the Hulk point this out in The Avengers when Loki is trying to get everyone to worship him. Maybe if your main character figures out early on (even if nobody else does) that the self-proclaimed god and his slave angels cannot possibly be all powerful, the readers will be less likely to assume that you are bashing their religious beliefs.

  21. Bookworm says:

    Yulia: You may want to read the Kane Chronicles, Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series, The Heroes of Olympus Series, and Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer. (Probably not all at once though.) All have mythology in them (and they’re all by Rick Riordan, so it’s convenient at the library). Kane Chronicles is based on Egyptian Mythology, Percy Jackson & the Olympians is based on Greek Mythology, The Heroes of Olympus Series is based on both Greek and Roman Mythology, and Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer is based on Norse Mythology. I’m a mythology geek, so if you have any questions about mythology, then I can help. (Especially if it’s Greek or Roman mythology). Hope this helped you!

  23. Yulia says:

    Actually, it is based kind of on Roman mythology. The story starts out in the US but then in the afterlife, everyone is given a Latin name. (I too am a mythology geek, so that’s totally cool in my world).

  24. Bookworm says:

    That’s awesome! I would recommend giving any deities a personality. It makes them more like characters. Just a piece of advice. Are you going to use Ancient Roman gods and myths to help with the plot?

  25. Lady Laisa says:

    I have a question: What should I name a spy ring? I have two that need names, and I’m drawing a blank so far on both. Does anyone have any suggestion?
    A little info: the spy rings are set in a time period based sorta off the late 1940s. One of the spy rings works with the tyrannical government, the other is basically dormant, more of a reconnaissance thing. A dead/dying resistance, if you will.
    Both spy rings need names. I know numbers and letters were popular back then, if anybody could think of something with numbers and letters and what the numbers and letters stand for, then that would be wonderful, but it is not strictly limited to such things. Words and/or phrases that sound workable are possibilities too. Thanks in advance!
    (P.S. I swear I won’t laugh at any names submitted. Or actually, if I find them humerous [or ironic] I will, but I won’t make fun of them. Even if you think it sounds dumb you can enter it. I’m just brainstorming. I think up ridiculous names all the time. You needn’t be shy.)

    • Christie V Powell says:

      Hmm… I’ll throw some ideas around… if I were doing numbers and letters, I would probably do a silly pun that you’d have to read it aloud to get, like K9NV or something… okay, that’s a little too silly. But if they’re spies, they’d probably want something that they could slip into everyday language without people knowing… maybe like a name, ELI for Ensuring Liberty through Intelligence or something like that.

  26. The Florid Sword says:

    I have a question too: How does on know which view to use? Picking POV characters and MCs is never the problem for me, but sometimes I have trouble figuring out whether to use first person or third person. Second person really appeals to me, but I’m not brave enough to try it.
    What do you think? How does one pick a person view, I guess? 😛

    • Christie V Powell says:

      I think it might depend on you. I’ve tried first person, but it just wouldn’t click for me. In third I can be a little more descriptive and have more fun with imagery, which is a strength of mine. Here’s a line from my WIP:
      The predawn gray was silent except for the river’s roar, and Keita was alone in an empty yard.

      Maybe I could switch “Keita” to “I”, but I feel like if it were 100% in her voice she’d be more pragmatic. She notices things, and thinks about them that way, but if she were the one putting them into words instead of me she’d say it differently. Maybe: “This was the perfect time to practice walking again, when no one else was awake to watch me fall.”

  28. Bookworm says:

    Just start writing. Don’t bother with POV yet, and that will come naturally.
    For one of the novels that I abandoned, I’d been trying to write in 1st Person POV. It turned into 2nd person POV, so I kinda went with it. It was so much fun, and then I got stuck, so sadly, like I said, I did abandon it in the end. . .
    Hope this helped!

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