Wrestling with demons again.

[melissajm]

I so don't know what I'm doing with this thing. In the beginning the POV kept changing. Then it settled into one. Then one of the earlier POV characters resurfaced, and I thought "Well, I'll switch back to her POV."

I did, and it's ok, but the ongoing POV might work better. I'm tempted to just stick with it, but can a book have different POV characters in the first quarter or so and one for the rest, and still work?

There are solid reasons for the changes in the beginning-at that point Malak's "alien," and I think we need to see him through different eyes to understand and have sympathy for him. Later, though, he's capable of carrying his story on his own, and changing POV feels contrived.

Comments

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

Just some ideas...

Is it possible to sprinkle in a couple of short POV switches here and there throughout the rest of the book to balance it out?

Or

Can you manage to use this one POV for the whole thing? Can you tell the story through this main POV alone?

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

I've toyed with both. This last switch was an attempt at "sprinkling," but I like the other way better.

The trouble with the single POV is that for most of the book Malak's the logical choice, but for parts of the beginning he's savage, blind, confined and not very aware of what's going on around or within him. His perceptions are incomplete and often innacurate. Plus, for those parts he's just plain unpleasant. ;)

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

What if you start the story after the Savage, blind etc. part? Would that work?

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Probably not as well, but it's worth considering.