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Some time ago, there was a challenge on the list to take part of a story we'd written, and rewrite it from a different POV. It was a fun exercise, actually, but I think it made a good point (no pun intended). And it's something I've discovered several times over the span of writing Covenant.
I have had sections where I just could not get it to work. I wanted to put certain things in, and I wanted it seen from a particular character's POV - but it just wasn't working. And even if it did work - it didn't always do so satisfactorily. Those sections always seemed to end up going in the wrong direction. Too dark, too silly, too...boring.
More by accident or frustration than by design, I'd say, the hell with it, and switch to a different character. What would *he* do? Think? Say? But damn - all of sudden, the scene was flowing! I couldn't type fast enough. And even though it wasn't what I *thought* I'd wanted, it was what the story needed.
I just went through that with a section in chapter 45 (cannot believe the story is still going on, frankly). I worked hours last night writing, deleting, rewriting - trying to get it right, and it just wasn't doing what I wanted it to. Either too clinical, or too maudlin. I slept on it, gave it another go this morning, and finally said, okay, Hannibal is just not going to work. Let's try the other "active" character here - Murdock. Lo and behold, I know exactly what he's going to do and say and it's going to (hopefully) bring out the points I need to with the right "flavor" to it.
Sometimes switching POV makes the whole thing work. Sometimes, switching doesn't do the trick, but it allows you to see where you went wrong with the original, let's you see what you missed the first time. Walking in another's shoes for a while really does change your way of thinking.
I have had sections where I just could not get it to work. I wanted to put certain things in, and I wanted it seen from a particular character's POV - but it just wasn't working. And even if it did work - it didn't always do so satisfactorily. Those sections always seemed to end up going in the wrong direction. Too dark, too silly, too...boring.
More by accident or frustration than by design, I'd say, the hell with it, and switch to a different character. What would *he* do? Think? Say? But damn - all of sudden, the scene was flowing! I couldn't type fast enough. And even though it wasn't what I *thought* I'd wanted, it was what the story needed.
I just went through that with a section in chapter 45 (cannot believe the story is still going on, frankly). I worked hours last night writing, deleting, rewriting - trying to get it right, and it just wasn't doing what I wanted it to. Either too clinical, or too maudlin. I slept on it, gave it another go this morning, and finally said, okay, Hannibal is just not going to work. Let's try the other "active" character here - Murdock. Lo and behold, I know exactly what he's going to do and say and it's going to (hopefully) bring out the points I need to with the right "flavor" to it.
Sometimes switching POV makes the whole thing work. Sometimes, switching doesn't do the trick, but it allows you to see where you went wrong with the original, let's you see what you missed the first time. Walking in another's shoes for a while really does change your way of thinking.
