POV & Me

As I said in my last post, I started writing EVIL? (formerly called The Right Hand Of Evil) in a third person limited omniscient point of view. It is my favourite, after all. However, I realized by the third chapter that first person was the way I had to go. Yes, I had to. My stories can be very demanding sometimes.

And, they're always right. When I finished the first draft of that book, I couldn't imagine having written it any other way.

My current project is called Kids Who Know. For this one, I knew that first person wouldn't work. I also knew third person limited omniscient wouldn't be enough - at least, not the way I'd been doing it. KWK has not one but two focus characters, something I have not done for the last six novel projects. I thought I might just do it for the prologue, then have the rest of the book focus on my main character. Fairly early in, however, I realized it wouldn't be that way. KWK needs a second focus character, my story told me, and as always it was right on the money.

The reason I've been avoiding more than one focus characters is partly because a writing teacher of mine once told me not to. Stick with my main character, she said, or you risk losing focus. And it's cheating. Or something like it. I didn't completely agree with her, but part of her lesson stuck. I am a lot more aware of focus and POV thanks to her, and when it came to the project she was helping me with (a middle-grade book called Trevor Niles: Goblin Kicker) she was right. Her guidance is also clearly evident in EPOCH.

With Kids Who Know, however, I threw that lesson out the window. My story wants two focus characters, and it'll get two focus characters.

Of course, what I'm telling you here is nothing new to most writers. Many of the novels I've read have multiple focus characters, and it works beautifully. My favourite example is Stephen King's IT, where he has a group of seven kids (and their adult counterparts) who each need their own focus scenes, along with a host of minor characters. It works, because that was the way that story needed to be told.

So it is with my stories. I'm aware of the rules of point of view, but I do what my story tells me. In the end, the story is always the boss.

Points of View

Deciding on a point of view (or POV) is one of the first decisions I must make when I prepare to write a new story. It's usually an easy decision; the story will suggest how, and through whose eyes, it needs to be told. Each POV has its advantages, but they also come with certain limitations.

First Person POV stories are told as if they are memories of the main character. They use the "I" pronoun (I had an adventure yesterday. "It was wild," I said), and give you a detailed look inside the main character's mind. It's like you telling a friend about something that happened to you.

Third Person POV stories are like the stories you tell about someone else. They use "he" and "she" pronouns, and offer a great deal more freedom. What do I mean by freedom? That depends on the type of third person POV you use. I'm a big fan of Third Person Limited Omniscient, where you stick with one character throughout the story and describe what happens around them. I wrote Epoch that way. It allows you to describe things as an outside observer, instead of a character in the thick of the story.

With Limited, however, you are still restricted to your main character. You can't go describing what's happening to another character, not until the main character is there to observe it. That way, the reader discovers things only when your hero does.

Actually, that's not entirely accurate. You can have multiple POV characters in a Limited Omni story, but each character has his or her own section. A section(not a technical term) can be as long as a chapter or as short as a paragraph. Within that section, the POV character is the focus, and you can't switch to another character's POV without ending the section(with, say, a chapter break or a space between paragraphs) and beginning a new one. That way, the reader understands they are now going to hear from someone else.

Some writers find this too restrictive, which is why there is also Third Person Omniscient. With Omniscient, you are like God - all-seeing and all-knowing. You can jump into and out of any character's head, and be anywhere in your story's world at any time. It presents the ultimate in freedom for a writer.

So why don't all writers write in Third Person Omniscient? Because it can be too much of a good thing. (Ooh! Did you notice how I started that last sentence with "because"? My English teachers would be so mad at me!) Too much freedom can dampen the story's focus, especially if you don't know exactly what you're doing. Not always, of course, but I don't fully trust myself with that much power. I write better when I have a few limitations.

Some POVs suit certain stories better than others. For example, I started writing EVIL? in Third Person, but realized it would work a lot better if it was in First Person POV. I had to rewrite Chapters 1 and 2, but the book was all the better for it.

So there are my thoughts on POV. I'll probably have more to say later. Times when I went wrong, for instance. You'll love that.

EVIL?

It's time I talked about my up and coming book, Evil? Cover art is up, and it looks like this:





Not bad, eh? I'm very happy with it.






So what is Evil? all about? Well, brace yourselves... it's a tiny bit naughty. It's similar to Epoch in that it is a fantasy/comedy, but the subject matter is a little more grown up. Generally, it deals with issues of teen sexuality, and a very religious town's reaction to those issues.

Specifically, it deals with masturbation.

Yes, a book for teenagers that deals with the private act of self-pleasure. I'm not sure how I got away with it, either. Some people get very uncomfortable with this subject matter. Some call it the Sin of Onan, or even self-abuse. I call it a perfectly natural part of life, and I think it's high time somebody wrote about it. So I did.

I'd like to point out here that Evil? is not a tasteless or gross novel. I treat the subject matter seriously; the comedy of Evil? comes from people's response to it.

The story (as much as I can reveal here) goes like this: Stewart, a teen living in the predominantly Christian town of Ice Lake, becomes a social outcast when he is caught masturbating in the shower. Ejected from his home and shunned by the community, Stuart suspects the reaction to his 'sin' is far from healthy and normal. Could some supernatural force be influencing people's minds? Or is his act really that... Evil?

Like I said, it's a bit more mature than my other books. But not much more. There's still plenty of action, adventure and jokes to make fans of Epoch very happy.

Any questions? Feel free to leave a comment. The book will likely be released sometime in 2009; I'll update when I know more.

Finished?

I've just completed the first draft of a new novel, tentatively titled Apoca-Lynn. I feel good about the story, and relieved to have it all written out. But is it finished? No, not even close.

As I typed the words The End, I was well aware that there are several issues with the book that need to be addressed. Some characters need more of a backstory. Others need more of a physical description(I'm really bad at those). There are also story points that need to be worked out in order for the novel to make sense.

Once I've dealt with those things, am I finished then? Still no. After that, I have to get the book read by other people. My wife, Violet, likes to have a read, and she's good at picking up on details I've missed. My agent sometimes has feedback to offer as well. When I've incorporated their notes, the book is finally ready to sell.

But it still isn't finished. If a publisher buys the book, they'll have changes of their own to suggest. I've had to do substantial rewrites on both Epoch and Evil? to get them ready for the market. Their requested changes can seem harsh at first; my author ego protests, "wasn't it good enough the way it was?" I've been very lucky to have worked with some terrific editors, however, and the changes they've asked for have made both novels better.

Plus, once I get into them, rewrites can actually be a lot of fun. I get to take my characters out for another spin, and see what they'll do under different circumstances.

When the book is printed, bound and in stores, then it can be considered finished. Good thing, too. I've got lots of other stories that need attending to!

More On Names

As I typed that title, I realized that if you say it fast it sounds like the title for this post is Moron Names. Gave me a chuckle.

Anyway, I wanted to write a bit more on the names I choose for characters, specifically the characters from Epoch. A lot of names from that book had more than just random selection to them, though I would not go so far as to say they had Deep Symbolic Meaning. Some of the names were simply little in-jokes that only I will get. Why? Because it made me smile.

There will be one or two Spoilers in the next few paragraphs. If you haven't read Epoch yet, leave your computer and go read it immediately. I'll wait.

Vincent, the hero of Epoch, has a cool and not ordinary first name. His last name, however, is Drear, short for dreary. I wanted to suggest his life had been fairly normal and boring until the events of the book. Mind you, this was before I decided he had fanatically devout parents who routinely locked him in the basement. Nothing ordinary about that.

Chanteuse Sloam is a combination of things. Her first name is French for singer, I think. However, I never imagined her as a singer. The name just sounded right to me. It suggested something spiritual(to me, anyway), which was right for her character. Her last name is half sloan(some old neighbours of mine) and half loam, which Wikipedia defines as a soil composed of sand, silt, and clay. Very appropriate for a character in touch with Mother Earth.

Most of the Elves got their names from Transformers. Grimbowl sounds a bit like Grimlock, Optar comes from Optimus and Megon from Megatron. Oh, and Dr. Ritchet was one vowel removed from Ratchet. Hey, I love Transformers. I'll squeeze bits of their names in wherever I can.

Barnaby, the school bully, was a name far removed from any typical bully name. That seemed appropriate, since he's not a typical bully. His two bodyguards, however, are an homage to the early works of the great Gordon Korman. The heroes of his first novel, This Can't Be Happening At MacDonald Hall, were Bruno and Boots. I named Barnaby's bodyguards after them as an homage.

But the one name I put the most into (and here's where the Spoiler Alert goes into full swing) was Pharley Seamore Edwards, the CEO of Alphega Corp. It turns out that Mr. Edwards is a Centaur, a creature that is half-human and half-horse. I wanted to hint at Edwards' true nature without giving too much away, hence the scenes of him munching on hay (and saying nay). His name is full of horse references: Pharley comes from the horse movie Phar Lap; Seamore comes from Seabiscuit; and Edwards is a reference to the famous TV talking horse, Mr. Ed. Gosh, I'm clever, aren't I?

As I said earlier, a lot of the name references are things that only I will get. It's not that I'm trying to deprive readers of anything; I just like to have a bit of fun. If you're ever wondering about a name from one of my books, drop me a line and ask where it comes from. I'd be more than happy to oblige.

Bear in mind, however, the name might just be something I thought sounded cool, and nothing more than that. You never know. But I do.

Naming Characters Is Fun

Character names, like story ideas, come from all over. Some are names from people I know (a first name here, a last name there) while others are a blend of words or sounds that I like. I most often write humour, so I'll often try and slip something funny in there, too.

The main characters in Attack of the Intergalactic Soul Hunters are Conrad Viscous and Knowlton Cabbage. In their case, I just liked the way the words sounded together. I'd had a friend named Conrad when I was growing up, and Viscous simply came to me as the ideal last name for him. He isn't a particularly sticky or slimy character; I just liked the word. Knowlton was a name I'd heard around and I just liked, and Cabbage went well with it the way Viscous went with Conrad. Sometimes you can't explain name choices like that; they just sound right in your mind's ear.

Other character names from that book had different origins. Pakfrida, the alien spirit who befriends Conrad, was a combination of my grandparents' names. My grandmother on my mom's side was named Frida, and my grandfather on my dad's side liked to be called Pac. Pakfrida was a grandfatherly sort of character, so I put Pac with Frida to get a unique name. Javix, the bounty hunter who helps Conrad, came from the cleaning fluid Javex. I just liked the sound of it. Cyscope, the main villain, had a name similar to that of Cyclonus, a Decepticon warrior from Transformers. Both characters are intelligent and ruthless, and I like to honour Transformers whenever I can.

Like I said, names can come from anywhere. One thing I try to do with them, however, is make them unique and memorable. I avoid common names as much as I can for main characters - it's more fun that way. Bill Jones isn't that unique or memorable. Conrad Viscous is. At least I think so.

Epoch - The First Beginning

Epoch had one false start, back before I knew what it was really going to be about. After the concept came together in my head(see my last post), I took a stab at the story that proved to be the wrong direction.

Originally, Vincent was to be playing soccer when he saw the elf, and his brother Max was dead. Max, in this version, had been a soccer star when he'd had an unfortunate accident, and Vincent was expected to fill his shoes completely. He wasn't any good at soccer, and he resented his parents for pressuring him into it. Then he sees an elf hiding under the bleachers, and realizes his life is about to get a lot more complicated.

That was the way Epoch would have started, but then I had an even better idea. Another look at that 2003 comet book reminded me there were lots of ways the world could end, and wouldn't it be fun to start an end-of-the-world novel with all those ideas together? I changed the location from a soccer field to a school science fair, and then other great ideas suggested themselves. For starters, Max was now very much alive. Then came the idea to make Vincent's family religious, and more ideas sprang forth from there. Plus, I was able to give Vincent a best friend (Big Tom) and an enemy (Barnaby) and introduce them both in the same scene.

I didn't throw away the original beginning. I like the idea of a character having to fill the role of his dead brother before coming into his own. It didn't work for Epoch, but maybe I can use it in the future. Who can say?