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One of my newest issues I have discovered in my writing is points of view. It's interesting. I never used to have problems with it. My main problem is Hero, a science fiction story of mine that is centered around an average young woman who accidentally saves the world from an alien invasion. The rest of the world rejoices, but she suffers. Why? Because saving the world isn't like it is in fiction. It's a fascinating idea, if I do say so myself. The main character is practically insane by the end of the story, suffering from guilt over what happened and what didn't happen the day she saved humanity. It explores not just human nature, but the nature of all sentient creatures. It's not a everyone-gets-a-happy-ending story. It's a story that makes you think. All that aside, I'm still having a major issue with it. I can't decide what format I want it in! It was originally supposed to be a graphic novel, or a really fancy comic book. The pros about that would that I could explain action that happen in much greater detail than in book format. I could jump around POV constantly, unrestrained by syntax or dialogue. The cons about this would be that it would be a) more difficult and time consuming and b) I would miss out on a lot of internal dialogues that the characters would have, limiting the character development to an extent. The characters in the story are very complex and I want them to be fleshed out as much as possible. My other option is to write the story in a traditional novel format. The pros about this would be that I could easily get into the heads and complex situations that confront the characters. It would be easier to explain long winded things, like politics, military and personal dilemmas. The cons would be that I'd have to be very careful about action sequences, since there are quite a few. It's easier to draw a battle scene than it is to write it, at least for me. Also, if I decide to write it, I'd face one more issue: POV! Oh, how this is bothing me. If I write it in third-person, I'd be able to jump around as in the comic and focus on the three most important characters very easily. I could cover more ground and not skip out on important events if the main character is not present to witness it. Unfortunately, the first-person would also work. The main character is psychologically disturbed through the majority of the story and to fully understand her, it would work better to be first-person. The reader would be able to really get into who she is and what she's really thinking. Her fall into insanity would also be able to be followed more clearly this way. That's a double edged sword, though. If the character's insane, it might be hard to follow what is going on in the rest of the story. The mind of a crazy person, is, well, chaotic. The story is a bit too complex to have that happen, you see. Also, the ending would be very awkward if it were first-person. This is all driving me crazy! I usually write in third, but recently, I've moved into first. The Manigoldo is a prime example. It works wonderfully as first; I could never begin to write it any other way. Some stories just work one way or the other. Some can be written either way. But for Hero, I can't begin to decide which would be better. I reallllly don't want to write the story twice. I'm considering making the graphic novel as well as writing it, but I'm still unsure... It's such a lovely story. I want to write/draw it one day. I just wish I could make up my mind. What do you think? |
