Writers Central

[StellaBlueBella]

Lol I've seen people talking about that before but had NO clue what it stood for. Makes so much more sense now, thanks Ginnie!

[missp]

Hello, Ya'll! And... hello, Summer! I hope to be able to get some writing done soon. I have been reading The Hunger Games trilogy since my beach trip, but when I'm finished, I intend to do some serious work on my second fic, Between Dusk and Dawn.

[VirginiaMay]

Welcome Back, MissP! I can't believe it's summer again! For you it's undivided time for writing. For me, it will be highly divided time between kids and writing, LOL!
Ah well, I'll have my mornings all to myself when Little Man starts pre-K in the fall.

[SwanCullen]

I don't know if I should post this here, or over in the FF discussion thread so I thought I would do it here. I can always take it there if ya'll think it would fit better there.

When your writing a certin type of scene, does music help you get in that mood? Like if your trying to write angst, do you listen to depressing music? If you do listen, what music helps you for each type of genre? I always have to listen to music, but I think that I would need to keep it to the type of scene I would be writing. I just wanted some opinions.

[missp]

I use music to dictate my mood all the time. The only problem I have is that it has to be intrumental. No lyrics. The lyrics distract me. So, I usually play the New Moon or Eclipse scores when I'm writing. I have plans to go on line and buy the Twilight score and the BD scores when they're available. I also want the HP scores eventually.

[Amanda Beth]

So writing friends, I come to you for advice.

As you know, I'm writing my book in 3rd person. I was wary since it seemed like lately books are written in first person, but I liked it better. Issue: I found myself writing for both my main character and her love interest--but not anywhere near consistency, which meant the love interest would get several paragraphs and then the rest of the chapter would be the main character...or worse the love interest would only have one thought. In Mazerunner, it only follows the main character and his thoughts and I've only read the first Harry Potter book but I believe that series does the same.

Now, I just finished the first book of Mortal Instruments. (Good read, but nothing close to my love for Hunger Games.) It's told 3rd person but follows the main character, Clary. Then randomly you'll get a paragraph or two from "the boy" in the story, Jace. Clary is always in the scene though. Should I make it so you only "hear" the love interest when they're together, because right there are scenes where they are separate. Is this kosher? Am I being overly critical?

Advice! I need advice!

[VirginiaMay]

Hey, Amanda.

It depends on you, I suppose. Who's story are you wanting to tell? As to what's done and what's not done- that changes all the time, doesn't it?

I'm no expert, but I'm listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks with my kids right now (we're up to Order of the Phoenix) and I've noticed that while most of the time the story stays with Harry, occasionally the narrative follows Ron or Hermione for a few moments in a situation Harry really couldn't have seen/heard something for himself. I think I've also noticed instances of their thoughts being narrated for us, even though strictly speaking Harry wouldn't be privy to them. It's just snippets I guess, not much of the story comes from anyone's perspective outside of Harry's, but at times it feels as much Ron or Hermione's story to me too. Then there are a few other techniques used in the books to avoid leaving Harry's perspective behind completely, but still give us some other information. Like in the beginning of "Goblet of Fire" where there is that whole sequence with the Riddle family's murders and the gardener/caretaker. A lot of detail about the past is given to the reader in that dream, a lot of things that Harry Potter never would have known himself. At the end of that sequence, Harry wakes up from it as a dream- but obviously, Rowlilng used the dream as an opportunity to divine the reader with information that we'd need later in the story and information that Harry remains unaware of until much later. The whole dream is very omniscient though, telling us things way outside of what anyone of the main characters could possibly know for themselves.

So there's that... I don't know if that helps, but it came to mind since it's what I've most recently been reading. Or listening to, I suppose, LOL!

Good luck!

[missp]

AB~~ IMHO - and humble it definitely is - writing in 3rd person is the easiest for the very reasons you're asking for our advice. Third person gives the author the freedom to allow readers into the minds of minor characters through the narration of the story. I don't think you're being over-critical at all. You just want the best product possible. I don't blame you... you've put your heart and soul into this novel. So, I say... write it, Sister! EXACTLY how you want to write it. I am so excited for you!

BTW... I am almost finished with MockingJay. SHEESH! What a ride!

GINNIE~~ Great advice!! How's the juggling of writing and kiddos going? I haven't actually sat down to write anything yet, but I have lots of notes jotted down on sticky notes and in a note pad in my Illustrated Guide. It sure would have been good to have that little treasure as I was writing PERFECT FOREVER.

[Amanda Beth]

I think one of the things that's LOST in 1st person writing is that we don't know what other people--especially the love interest--are thinking. In Hunger Games I would die to know Peeta's POV on a lot of the events. Obviously we were lucky enough to read part of Midnight Sun but I'd love to see Edward's thoughts on some matters.

That being said, I also want to limit it to how many characters you can "hear". I think that can be overwhelming.

Thank you guys so much! I don't know what I'd do without you guys. Over at Mockingjay.net they're all REALLY young. Like, I'm the oldest by yearssssss and there are still only a few in their 20s. Majority are like 15. I'm a mod there now and it's definitely interesting sometimes

[Suzan]

Hi all
Sorry to barge in here but I was lurking around a little when I saw your question Amanda Beth. I just wanted to say that I've been reading the ff A Pound of Flesh recently and it's also written in third person. Your question made me think of the story because I found the third person perspective really good in some parts but very confusing and even annoying in others. I don't know if you've read it but the main plot line centers around Bella's and Edward's "thoughts" which I think is really well done. But then sometimes there are random bits of other persons thoughts in there and that made it a little confusing because I couldn't figure out who's thoughts they were. I am by no means an expert on this stuff but from reading this story I think you are right about keeping it to maybe two/three of the main characters. Anyway, maybe you can get some tips about the third person perspective from that story.

I've been walking around with an idea for a ff for a few months now and have a whole notebook full of notes but I just don't have the time to write it down. I think I will start somewhere in my summer vacation. I have no writing experience whatsoever (hence the lurking, any type of tips you all give are highly appreciated) but I have this really strong feeling that I have to write this, even if it is just for myself. Anyway, wanted to say in regard to SwanCullen's question that I can't listen to music in a normal way anymore since I had this idea. Every song I hear inspires me about some part of the story or gives me new idea's. I have whole playlists on paper and youtube, it's crazy. So I will definitely listen to music that relates to what I'm writing, once I finally start writing it.