Friday, October 29, 2010

Decisions, Decisions

So I've finally decided on a plot, and on a basic concept driving my story, but that's about as far as I've gotten. I'm thinking I want to write first person, kind of in the way that Heinlein writes, but I'm not really sure. Now, I need to work on characters... I don't even know what the voice of my MC is going to sound like, and I want to write a 50,000 word novel in it? It's a scary concept.

To ensure I get the style down right, I'm going to re-read my favourite two Heinlein novels over the next week or so. Starship Troopers (my absolute favourite novel, and not just sci-fi favourite), and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. So that gets the style down.

Then for the characters I suppose... There was s technique that I picked up reading a how to book written by Orson Scott Card called 'Characters and Viewpoint' whereby you watch a person, and create a whole backstory that explains some of the seemingly innocuous characteristics that they display. It's more than a little disturbing that it is as fun as it is. Another WriMo friend and I did it with a bunch of staff profile pictures on the website of a local high school here in our home town.

And that just leaves the MC's voice. I already have a back story, but, have nothing on their voice. In a perfect world, he would have popped into my head almost fully formed in the way that Harry popped into J.K. Rowlings head. Why can't I ever be that lucky?

2 comments:

  1. I wrote my first novel in first person, and it was a delight and a struggle all in one. It's shelved at the moment, and hasn't had its first rewrite, but I am still glad I made that decision. I wanted to be the MC voice, and I had something to say. For Nano I have over ten characters already, and they are all screaming for attention, so they will each have their own voice, and I will skip first person - but I always enjoy reading that kind of POV. Good luck -- I can't believe it's finally here!

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  2. Thanks Kristy, I always find it helpful to hear what other people have done, and how they felt about it. the voice ended up just being there when I needed it, so all is well in my universe at the moment. Good luck with NaNo this year.

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