Okay so I'm fully aware that it is no longer Monday. However, I had such a bad case of feeling "Mondayish" yesterday that I could barely bring myself to think let alone write a deeply profound (I know, right?) blog post.
So this weekend I didn't get as much writing done as I wanted. I did manage to squeeze in a few pages but nothing spectacular. I did however, clean the master bathroom (a daunting task) and unpack the remaining boxes (except for 2) left in the house on Saturday. Sunday was spent visiting the wonderful Mothers in my life. Yesterday was spent being a full blown Monday in all its woeful glory. I feel like the whole day passed by me while I was in a Monday daze. I'm really glad today is Tuesday.
So now lets talk about my book. It's written in 3rd person limited with several different POVs. Which in my opinion is the best way to write an epic fantasy novel. First person just would be far too limited with the scope of the novel. I can't write it all from Gabriel's perspective because he spends pretty much the first 3/4 of the book on an island instead of where the rest of the action takes place. I've also never really been a fan of 3rd person omniscient because I feel like I know too much and I'd prefer to find things out with the characters. I won't even talk about writing in 2nd person.
Okay now I have a slight dilemma with my limited 3rd person pov. I realized that my villain(s) have no voice whatsoever in my novel as of yet. They are amorphous bad guys. Not good. The protagonists all talk about how evil the Emperor is (except Shay but that's not important) but we never see his pov and we never hear his motivations. That's really bad on my part and I need to remedy it. The problem I have is if the Emperor has his own chapter from HIS pov then it'll give way too much plot away too quickly. Can't have the reader knowing exactly what's going on so early. I've thought about sticking a chapter in of someone close to the Emperor but I'm dubious.
I could always wait until after some important stuff happens in the middle of the book to give voice to the evil bad guy in question. I mean Gabriel (good guy) has chapter 1 and then doesn't appear again until chapter 21. That's 20 chapters sans Gabriel...granted he isn't in the thick of the action but he's a very important character. Maybe I'm just over analyzing it all. Sarah would tell me just to stop thinking and start writing. I do like writing bad guys, I'm really excited to write chapter 22 which is a "bad" guys' (but not a villain) chapter.
Like I said before, part of why I like 3rd person limited is because you learn what's truly going on with the characters. If I add in information about the villain(s) too soon then some climatic events won't be as ermm climatic.
Any advice? I wish I knew an editor, I'm stumped.
5 comments:
Mondays suck.
Having read what you've written so far, are you sure that adding perspective to the amorphous bad guy is such a necessity? From the PoV of the characters you begin to care about in the book, at least in the context of those against the emperor so far (Gabe, Katze, Rafe... not Shay yet...) they don't care *why* he's doing what he's doing, they just hate him for what he's doing.
I'm sure his motives will eventually become clear, but as a reader with compassion towards the "good" guys, you don't really care why he's evil - he just is, and he's a douche bag and must be defeated!
Viva la revolution!!
No I'm not sure it's a necessity at all. I do think eventually it is because of plot points you don't know about yet. :)
It's hard to explain...I suppose you're right about Gabe, Rafe and Katze. They don't care at all WHY he's such a dbag. Shay will though, she will care a ton.
You are correct. I would tell you stop whining and start writing.
But I would also suggest that you reveal the bad guy's character through interaction with already established characters, like--is it Savitr?--Sark.
I'd rather find out about the villain via subtext rather than Inspector-Gadget-style where he expounds on his evil plans while petting his cat, you know? Plus it would enable you to stop thinking and get to writing!
Oh geez, the emperor needs a bald cat that he pets, ala inspector gadget. I think Sarah has struck comedy gold here.
He needs an evil cackle too. Oh and maybe Rafe pulls out a sword and turns Katze into an armored mount? Maybe mouse wears a red hoodie and floats around making stupid comments? Geez, the possibilities are simply endless. I miss He-man.
Back on topic though, everyone knows that all good super villians reveal their ultimate plans to the good guys in a monologue just prior to the good guy escaping and foiling the plot.
(You all have just witnessed why I will never be an author, btw).
You're such a noob...
Also Inspector Gaget's cat was very fluffy. You're thinking of Dr. Evil's cat Mr. Bigglesworth.
Rafe might do something like that but I don't think Katze would be compliant. Also Mouse would never say anything stupid even if she did have a red cape. She's too s.m.r.t for that.
I think I'll end up doing what Sarah suggested...although not with Savitr. Savitr gets chapter 22 all to himself, it'll be awesome.
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