Changing my Point Of View

While in my hour of writing this morning I had a pretty big change happen in my work in progress (WIP). For the last 8 & 1/2 chapters I have been writing in a third person limited kind of way. As in I write in third person and focus one character at a time. So the "camera" is seeing almost everything from the same angle as whatever character I'm focused on, which means that occasionally, the reader will hear the thoughts of that one character and see most things from their perspective. But this morning, I switched to first person, mid-chapter.

Now, this was a conscience decision. I was stuck on a part where I couldn't figure out how to describe something and I wasn't really sure where I was going in the scene so I thought, "What if I wrote this from the main character's perspective entirely? How would she say this in her own words?" I started writing in the first person for a paragraph or two and I liked it so I just kept going.

I found that the first person felt a lot more natural. I've written a few short stories and things from the 1st person POV, and they were easy to write that way. I liked getting fully into the characters head. I've also written a few shorts about specific characters before I actually use them in a story so that I can get a feel for them. I guess I was only doing 3rd person for this one because most of the Fantasy books (YA or Adult) I read are in third person.

Anyway, so now I'm faced with these 8 & 1/2 chapters that I'll have to completely overhaul. And there's a whole prologue that I'll have to kill. But the prologue can die, it was pretty but wasn't really needed in the story overall.

For a while I was trying to figure out if I should go back now and re-write what I have or if I should just keep going and worry about it later. But after putting that question up on the Absolute Write forums (AW Forums) and getting some great feedack, I figured I'd just keep writing as I am and I'll fix what I have later.

Too many writers (some that I know) spend a lot of time being stuck on a chapter or scene because they are constantly re-writing it and not just getting the whole story down on paper. I just want to finish this manuscript just so that I can say that I did it.

And btw, I did 1023 words this morning. Not bad for spending half of it staring at the screen thinking "What now?"

America (a poem)

America

Red, white and blue,

I pledge to you,

The strength of my bones.

To defend and protect

All that you hold dear.

Red, white and blue,

I pledge to you,

The wisdom of my mind.

To teach and enlighten

Other minds around me.

Red, white and blue,

I pledge to you,

The courage of my heart.

To stand up and speak

For truth and liberty.

Red, whit and blue,

I pledge to you,

The peace in my soul.

To guide and uplift

Your many lost souls.

Red, white and blue,

I pledge to you,

My Life,

My Liberty,

My Happiness.

For this One Nation

Under God.

That He may provide

Liberty and Justice

For All.

Picking It Back Up

So this morning I picked up my NaNoWriMo project from this last year. The working title is Avalon. It's a YA fantasy novel (maybe urban fantasy?). It kind of started out as a "what if" type thing. "What if all the mythological creatures in the world are real and if so, where did they go?"

I've started and stopped this story a few times now. And last October I outlined a bunch of the story and I've been trying to pick it back up again ever since Will was born.

I even started a whole different story, but I've put that on a back burner for now because there's a lot of research involved that I just am not ready to do.

Anyway, I found the current draft I'm on for Avalon and I finished chapter five. I wrote 1233 words this morning! Go me! I think I average about 1200 words/hour.

My goal is to finish the first rough draft by the end of the year. I'm pretty sure I can do it faster than that, but I don't want to stress my self too much.