Perspective

It haunts me always...

Hello, all!

Before I begin, I would like to apologise for the lack of an update on The Pricking of My Thumbs. I have much going on in my personal life (big changes, all good ones) that whisked me away from my laptop and the world of Eleanor and John Griffin. Fear not, we will return to our regularly scheduled programming soon.

As a token of my sincere feelings, I would like to offer an update on my writing journey. The beta for Shades of Night should be sent to my reader list at the end of next week. Yay!

Paolo Uccello - The Battle of San Romano

After finishing my tenth draft of Shades of Night, I did not want to look at it. I hated everything about it. Thankfully, I have friends that are a constant source of inspiration for me. Three months later, I have returned to edit what I hope is the next draft of my book. I’m very, very excited about it. At long last, I have reestablished the habits necessary to work on this story. It’s important to know that for anything worth having, motivation is not enough. For the days that are difficult, you must have discipline. That includes even passions. I can’t stop when things become frustrating.

This brings me to what frustrated me: perspective.

I loathe perspective. I always get it wrong. I gravitate toward a third-person limited perspective. Simultaneously, I drift toward third-person omniscient P.O.V.

Each time I deliver an updated draft to my critique group, the issue is always the same. I am forced to return to over 120,000 word Frankenstein's Monster of a narrative voice.

I write this with tears rolling down my cheeks. Not even my usual lemon and ginger tea can cheer me. All I want to do is write a scene from every possible angle. Even the dog in the corner of the King’s coronation has a life story begging to be penned. If that’s wrong, I do not want to be right!

This is written in jest… sort of.

While I don’t dissolve into tears, I do find myself frustrated. My narrative voice became such an issue that I taped a sticky note to my laptop screen in all caps, “DO NOT WRITE IN THIRD PERSON UNLIMITED!!!!”.

Yet I disobey.

Now that I am aware of this problem I have, however, I try to improve myself. To my surprise, I am not actually limited by 3rd person limited.

Wish me luck as I trudge through the mire of this ridiculous novel.

-Maya