by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Even though you’re not supposed to, I am letting a few people read my first draft of my first novel because I’m 100% extroverted and need an audience for anything creative that I do. As such, I’m beginning to get some input that I find a little off putting.
One complaint I’ve gotten is the reader didn’t like my use of different POVs within a chapter. My decision to do this is existential because, as I’ve said before, I want these novels to be an Old Brown Shoe for anyone who has read Stieg Larsson’s stuff.
So, if you don’t like me bounce around to different POVs, then these projected six novels probably aren’t for you. But I have to admit that now going into the upcoming second draft, I’m going to be a lot more careful about transitions. I’m going to be really self conscious about the first little bit of each scene, trying to make it as smooth and yet as clear as possible that we have a new POV.
I find this particular critique of the novel extremely aggravating because no one else has complained about this element of the novel’s structure and Stieg Larsson did it — using, like me, third person intimate — and he was able to sell a lot, A LOT of novels.
As such, it’s one of those things were you have a vision and you live or die by it. I know what I want to do with these novels and that’s that. The issue of using different POVs is existential and if you don’t like my use of it, don’t read the novels.
So, it’s not impossible to do what I want to do. But that doesn’t stop a small, vocal minority from bitching and moaning about how much they hate me doing it.
Ugh.
