Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Multiple Personalities (aka Dual First Person POV)

Does your book (or manuscript) have multiple personalities?

Mine sure does.

I'm dealing with a fun, popular, talkative but somewhat shallow 12yo boy, and his sullen, ignored, uncommunicative but deep thinking 14yo brother.

Getting these two very different points of view to mesh has been...well, difficult.

Okay. Truth be told, I'm not sure it's any good. I've had to step out of the revision cave for a few days to give my poor, overworked brain a rest.

The biggest problem is that both boys' moods are so different, so the mood of each POV feels different. Almost like each POV is a different book altogether. The 12yo's POV is light and fun and silly (and, I'll admit, it feels just as shallow as he is). And the 14yo's POV is more serious and substantial (but a whole lot less fun). And the story, though it is really is about a mystery the brothers solve together, it also deals with how these two brothers learn from each other and grow. So, by the end of the book, the 12yo is less shallow than he was (and a little more serious about life), and the 14 has learned to lighten up a little.

So I'm trying to start out from two very different places with two very different moods, and slowly move them closer together by the end of the book.

And did I mention that I'm trying to keep this MG, which is hard since one main character is definitely MG, and the other is more YA?

My head hurts just thinking about it.

Though it could be that I'm making this way more complicated that it needs to be. I tend to do that. A lot.

Do you have a multiple POV story you'd like to share with me? Please do. I could use all the advice/support I can get.

*dives back into the revision cave*

1 comment:

  1. That's my problem, too. I originally wrote the first draft from one character's POV, and this time around, I'm alternating POVs every chapter. The characters are the same age, but very different. One's a fighter boy with attitude, the other's a needy foster girl who likes to please people. As I'm rewriting, I've had to rewrite the same scene with the other person's POV. Not always easy. I totally have to shift mindsets every time I change chapters.

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