The POV Rewrite Conundrum - Or when is a story too real to change?

[tejas]

So I have 20 odd pages of a story written. It's almost complete, but as I was getting to the end and the final tying up of various emotional threads and so forth I realized it wasn't very good

Comments

[theemdash]

Convincing myself the story isn't written in stone is the biggest obstacle for me. Usually when I hit something like that I write a 100% AU for the universe, write them OC, write the things they want to do and would never do-I just completely break what I think is canon and that will frequently shake my head loose and get me back on track for being able to create.

Another suggestion-I'm against telling the same events twice, but could you swap between the two heads? Tell the story from PissedOff's perspective until the dub-con and then go into Stupid&Dangerous's POV? (I greatly prefer close 3rd to all others as well and understand the problem; I've skirted it before by changing POV.)

[tejas]

OH, good, it's not just me. :-)

Not in something this short. If it's 10k words, I'll be surprised. I'm thinking closer to 8k and that's just too short, for me, to break the focus and shift to another head. For me to shift POV like that, I need to do it at a chapter break and I refuse to write chapters shorter than about 5k. (Well, unless I need to write one shorter. LOL.)

Good thought, though, about writing something cracky to kinda break the ice.

[theemdash]

I was thinking it sounded pretty short (I hate breaking for something that short, too), but I didn't know if it would SOLVE ALL TEH PROBLEMS! \o/

Definitely try writing something cracky; that has helped me many a time. (One time a character went off on Daniel and just letting the character do that let me get over the hump and get the story back on track.)

[tejas]

LOL! Sadly, switching would, I fear, also ruin the intensity. But crack therapy might just do the trick. LOL!

[blood_red_alibi]

I had that problem a while back. I had a massive NCIS story that I started back at the end of 2008, it took four massive re-writes and two years... but I finally decided that I was as happy with it as I was ever going to be. There're still some issues with it, but I really don't think I can go back and fix anything without messing up what I already have (and thus forcing a possible fifth re-write).

I tend to write in first person because I enjoy crawling inside the character's head and rummaging around. I realize I could do it in 3rd limited, too... but I like first person because it allows me to shed my writer's identity fully.

I'd try setting it aside for the moment and working on something lighter. I find it hard to force intense and emotional scenes... I usually write alternate scenes that I know won't ever make it in. I use them like outtakes.

[tejas]

I've done "outtakes" on long pieces, but never on anything this short. mmmm... Maybe not. I'm afraid I'd bleed off some of the emotion.

And I feel your pain on the long one. :-)

[blood_red_alibi]

That could be. I tend to work with more humor than angst, so I always feel a little lost with it.

*gives cookies* You should probably share them with your character to get him to open up about what the hell is going on. :)

[tejas]

Naaa... I know exactly what's going on with him. It's forcing myself to so drastically change my story that's killing me. :-)

[taylorgibbs]

I love your character names, by the way :)

You CAN do this!!!

Yes, absolutely sometimes I get in my own way. I typically only write in deep 3rd, though I alternate POVs. There are times I'll reread a scene and just have to shake my head. When the POV doesn't work, it gets so frustrating.

Try to write your way out of it...even if you write a few vignettes set before or after the story.

[tejas]

I already backed up the start of the story with the new POV. Not by much, but the story takes place in a single night and I want to keep the sense of, well, enclosure. Two characters, 1 location, 1 defined time frame. But I see what you mean. It might help.

[tinlizzie82]

Don't know if this helps but the beginning of a story I'm doing now does alternate between POVs and what I did on the parts that overlapped was go back to the dialog and start by swapping out the tags and beats to work for the other character, including occasionally adding or removing bits (in places where the non dialog portions indicated that there might be more unreported conversation or vice versa). After that, I had enough of a feel to rewrite all the other parts with the emphasis needed for the new POV. Dunno if this will help since it was specifically for something you don't want to do.

[tejas]

No, that wouldn't work. The characters' dialog isn't interchangeable in any way at all. Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean.

[tejas]

Oh,yeah, it will. *whine* It's just so *haaaaard*. LOL