Getting rid of a POV Character?
So,
I have taken an extended break from Ever-bound, if you haven’t noticed.
What began as a Summer Break, is now a hiatus.
External Reasons for hiatus
I am an outdoorsy and active person. This poses a “problem” to my writing person. When Summer visits our northern climes, nature is a constant song. Blueberries plump out, then the rasp- and blackberries. Solitary trails roll out for walking. Beyla needs her swimming time. Then colorful Autumn swings around, and the adventures want continuing… And of course there are house things that can only be done during nicer weather… and of course, the daily work grind is always present, too.
Time + Energy is always the battle.
Internal Reasons for hiatus
Based upon the external reasons, some which could be avoided and others not really - it sheds light on the priorities I’ve chosen. So, my priority has not been to work on Ever-bound through the summer and fall.
That being said… writing has been part of my life. But I have leaned toward different forms: poetry and essay.
This will need to be something I will need to sit down and think about this winter: do I want Ever-bound to be a priority throughout the year? If so, what practical ways do I accomplish this?
Ever-bound Reasons for hiatus
I haven’t given much thought to Ever-bound during my hiatus. I think it’s good to leave some projects alone to incubate. But a few weeks ago I had a thought float in: what if another reason for my lack of attention to Ever-bound, is because of my recent-most character addition, Kabekka?
Go figure… there’s a blockage in my Ever-bound progress because there’s a blockage in my relationship to it.
Isn’t that usually how it goes?
With that thought, I realized that there seems to be hesitation within me to work on her POV.
Why? Because with her as a POV Character, it means expounding upon…
her geographical area of that world, including learning the culture and history of the city in which she lives
her specific representation of society (she is a governmental pov)
her personality, goals, family history… all that “baggage” that comes with introducing a main character.
… in short… a POV character requires MUCH more behind-the-scenes work.
Also, with that thought, came a revelation: what if the story I had in mind for Kabekka, actually works better with a character I already have… Bethl. The more I think about Bethl taking the place (so to speak) of Kabekka… the more it makes sense.
And so…
here we are, enjoying fika,
me with a drip coffee blend of Black Silk Folger’s and Vanilla Bean Starbucks…
looking at characters.
And coming to realize that I think I need to remove one of the main POVs I had penciled in.
The good news
in all of this, is that because Kabekka was a later addition, I don’t feel like I can speak her part very well. And therefore, I don’t feel like I’m ready to be a vessel for her point of view in this story.
Then again, because I don’t know her very well… is partly why I feel she can go away.
That, and because the crucial story fodder/character arc she was intended for, seems to be better off as Bethl’s story…
When I think about removing Kabekka from the part of Book One,
I don’t feel she will remove much from the story I’m trying to tell.
And the other characters I have who come into contact with her via letters - Eren and Endrew - can still come into contact with her.
Kabekka can still remain as a character
- even an important one.
But that doesn’t mean that she needs to be a POV character!
And this is very liberating.
Because it means:
I don’t need to focus my Time and Energy figuring out her part of the world, her intricate psychological dilemmas, her family history and roots, her BAGGAGE. At least not to the EXTENT that I would if she were a POV.
I am THAT MUCH CLOSER to a finished second draft of Ever-bound.
Was writing her first draft POV a waste of time?
Of course, no.
I needed her first draft to figure out the sort of character I needed in her governmental position.
I needed her so I could figure out what sort of society someone like her would live in - the buildings, the relationship dynamics, the education… all of it.
I still have a lot to sort out about it all, of course.
But Kabekka’s first draft got the wheels turning, and helped me to figure out a lot of those gaps.
It also gave me the chance to think in a new way about the government in this story, which I would not have without her.
Mysteries can remain!
Leaving her as a character but not a POV, allows me to keep some mystery (ie: I don’t have to figure most of it out) about the government position she represents.
It allows me to keep her a mystery as well (ie: I don’t need to know everything about her family, her quirks, her baggage).
At least for Book One.
Takeaways
because I want you to take away something from this, too!
It is natural and good and necessary for projects to sit on the backburner in order to incubate. I know we hear that a lot as creatives, and it feels like placation. But it’s just true. And it’s good we remember that.
We need to step back and notice the actual priorities in our life, and compare them to our perceived or desired priorities. Actual priorities are the habits of our day, perceived/desired priorities are habits we never quite get to (or at least not as often as we would like).
Once we sort out our Actual vs Perceived/Desired Priorities, we can adjust our habits or our priorities accordingly.
Writing up a main character doesn’t mean you are forced to use them as a main character. Sometimes we have to create something in order to learn about other things that make it up.
For example… sometimes we make cookies, and they didn’t turn out right… and then we look at the ingredients or time/temperature we used, and learn about those varying elements. Now we know how to use (or not use) these elements in other baked goods.
Have your own writing discovery that you’d like to share with other writers?
Feel free to write me, and I’ll share in a blog post with your credit.
