Hatrack River Writers Workshop: POV problem

This is topic POV problem in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by rcorporon (Member # 2879) on :

I've been wrestling with a major problem in my WIP novel for a while now, and decided to ask my fellow writers here.

Here's my problem in a nutshell:

Firstly, the structure of my novel so far has been that I keep a tight third person POV for each chapter, and tell each chapter from the perspective of one character (much like Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" novels).

Now, I have two characters, Reid and Isaac. They are part of a long-lived race of people, and have lifespans that go into thousands of years. They were best friends, and then Isaac double-crossed Reid (for reasons that he thought were right at the time). The consequence of this was that Reid was banished for about 1100 years. Reid has blamed Isaac for this, and has allowed his hatred and resentment to brew for all that time. Near the end of the novel, Reid and Isaac will confront each other, and Reid is going to attempt to kill Isaac for his betrayal.

Now here's the crux of my problem. I'm trying to figure out how to write this chapter in a way that keeps in the overall structure of the chapters before it (one character's POV / chapter) but I want the total emotional impact of both characters to be felt by the reader. During their meeting, Isaac is content to simply allow Reid to kill him for what he did, but Reid is boiling over with rage and emotion, because now that he has his chance to exact his revenge, he is finding it hard to actually kill his friend.

I don't want the POV to bounce between the two men during the fight, as I think that would be confusing.

Any ideas as to how to approach a problem like this?

Thanks!

Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on :

alot can be shown through body language and dialogue. Let the action convey the message.

Posted by rcorporon (Member # 2879) on :

Do you think that it would be better to use the irate man's POV, or the calm, submissive one?

Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on :

By your synopsis, I would pick Reid. He seems like the Protagonist in the situation.

Posted by sholar (Member # 3280) on :

I would think the calm submissive man would be boring. He has made his decision and is content in it. But the angry man (Reid) is still active and changing. Also, it would make more sense (atleast to me) for the angry man to be carefully watching the other man, which would allow you to see into both characters more. What Isaac says and does matters greatly to Reid wheras what Reid does really doesn't matter to Isaac (Isaac is willing to accept a death sentence, that seems pretty committed to his path).

[This message has been edited by sholar (edited June 17, 2008).]

Posted by luapc (Member # 2878) on :

I think that the POV selection needs to be made based on determining who your overall protagonists and antagonists are. Everything about protagonists and antagonists in a story is relative. There are novels where everybody is evil, and yet the reader roots for the one that is the least evil. Vampire novels are often like that, where everybody from some perspective does evil things. Sucking blood and killing just can't be anything else, can it? Only if they are killing and sucking from those that deserve it.

Because of that, the author has to determine which character, or characters, are the most likable, and use their POV's most often. If an author doesn't, they risk confusing the reader by making them want to associate with a character who turns out not to be the protagonist.

That's not to say that sections can't be from the antagonist's POV, as that would be foolish too. This would be especially true if you want to keep the reader guessing who the real antagonist and protagonist is, but eventually I think it would need to be clear. No matter, hints need to be given to the reader by the author. In other words, it would be very possible to have as many or more scenes in an antagonist's POV as the protagonist's, but in those cases the writing has to be tilted toward the eventual overall protagonist.

What I'm trying to say from this long winded explanation, is that only you can decide who you want the reader to attach to, and then write it that way. Like Bent Tree suggested, one or the other needs to be the focus protagonist eventually. In scenes where both are present, consistency will become a subconcious factor for the reader, and they will automatically associate more with the POV character, who must be the eventual good guy of the conflict. Only you the author can determine who that is.

Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :

I say write them both, and pick which you like better.

Or you could always go crazy and leave both chapters in.

I also like the idea of staying in POV of a character and killing him off, and then switching to the POV of the killer. But I am just that kind of writer.

Posted by rcorporon (Member # 2879) on :

Thanks everybody, especially luapac, for the advice!