Yes, I am new here, trying to learn about this fabulous site. I thought I'd just post on one of the issues i'm having (and am very up for any recommendations about other threads, resources, etc). The thread (yes did a bit of archeology) on POV, FPP and so on is so helpful and really, stuff like that is exactly why I joined AW. First, telling my friends that I am “writing” or even “finished a rough draft of” a novel typically gets the same reaction I imagine I’d get if I told them I was knitting socks for a hamster. And second, I don’t know anyone who is up for a discussion of things like FPP, first past, or how one works in back story without some horrid info dump.
The issue is tense, really and POV. I just finished my first novel and am revising, brutally. Like I guess a lot of newbies, I wrote in FPP because when I started, I just wanted to tell a story. I did not buy any books on writing, I didn't even look at online resources, there are not any writers groups in my area. I just sat down when I had time and wrote. But now, I am looking at books, looking at structure and tension, character development.
i'm a psychologist so I do write for a living (evaluations mostly) but not fiction (I hope my evaluations have not turned out to be fiction anyway, but one does wonder
).
I consider myself a storyteller though, because one thing we do is listen for the client’s story (usually painful) and see if we can help create a “better” one. So, I do get to listen to stories all day long. Thinking about POV and tense, and listening to my clients, I realize people, at least in their shrinks’ offices, mix tenses all the time
So, we were sitting there, watching TV and what does she do? She up and tells me I’m a dumb fuck and that Aaron isn’t going to amount to shit. Where does she get this? Swear to God! So me, I get up and I get right in her fucking face. I tell her <insert some really nasty stuff here>. So then, I just take Max out for a walk, because you know, I don’t need her shit. Then the next day, I’m late, just about out the door and she comes up and says, ‘here’ and she gives me this fucking box. I mean, she expects me to open the damn thing right there! So I set down all my shit and start opening the stupid thing. They fucking make these things so a safecracker couldn’t open it. And what is it? You know what she did? That woman! It’s that Kimber I wanted. It’s that God damned Kimber.
In narrative (at least with shrinks!) people tend to move in and out of past and present, but in telling the story, it is most common in the present, or it gets there (“I totally didn’t see the cop. I’m just sitting in my car, eating lunch, and this guy just comes right up to my window and he says…”)
So yes. I see that it’s confusing. And one really has to stick in voice and not get in to “So I realize that I’m hungry” kind of stuff. As I said, I did write mine in FPP because that seems like what I hear all day. But, after I get done with other plot related revisions will I try it in past tense? Probably. It may flow better. I can see where backstory could be problem.
But doing revisions, I have to stay focused. If my brain gets to “OMG! POV! Let’s try it in past…no, wait! Let’s try it in 3rd! 3rd present? No, still have to work that problem out in chapter 5. No, gotta get those dialog tags out of there first. Yeah, I’ll do that, but wait! I just remembered! What I was going to have that guy say in chapter 10? And shit, what about cliff hangers at the end of each chapter??” I will never, ever get anything done!
Anyway that’s where I’m at.
Great site!
The issue is tense, really and POV. I just finished my first novel and am revising, brutally. Like I guess a lot of newbies, I wrote in FPP because when I started, I just wanted to tell a story. I did not buy any books on writing, I didn't even look at online resources, there are not any writers groups in my area. I just sat down when I had time and wrote. But now, I am looking at books, looking at structure and tension, character development.
i'm a psychologist so I do write for a living (evaluations mostly) but not fiction (I hope my evaluations have not turned out to be fiction anyway, but one does wonder
). I consider myself a storyteller though, because one thing we do is listen for the client’s story (usually painful) and see if we can help create a “better” one. So, I do get to listen to stories all day long. Thinking about POV and tense, and listening to my clients, I realize people, at least in their shrinks’ offices, mix tenses all the time
So, we were sitting there, watching TV and what does she do? She up and tells me I’m a dumb fuck and that Aaron isn’t going to amount to shit. Where does she get this? Swear to God! So me, I get up and I get right in her fucking face. I tell her <insert some really nasty stuff here>. So then, I just take Max out for a walk, because you know, I don’t need her shit. Then the next day, I’m late, just about out the door and she comes up and says, ‘here’ and she gives me this fucking box. I mean, she expects me to open the damn thing right there! So I set down all my shit and start opening the stupid thing. They fucking make these things so a safecracker couldn’t open it. And what is it? You know what she did? That woman! It’s that Kimber I wanted. It’s that God damned Kimber.
In narrative (at least with shrinks!) people tend to move in and out of past and present, but in telling the story, it is most common in the present, or it gets there (“I totally didn’t see the cop. I’m just sitting in my car, eating lunch, and this guy just comes right up to my window and he says…”)
So yes. I see that it’s confusing. And one really has to stick in voice and not get in to “So I realize that I’m hungry” kind of stuff. As I said, I did write mine in FPP because that seems like what I hear all day. But, after I get done with other plot related revisions will I try it in past tense? Probably. It may flow better. I can see where backstory could be problem.
But doing revisions, I have to stay focused. If my brain gets to “OMG! POV! Let’s try it in past…no, wait! Let’s try it in 3rd! 3rd present? No, still have to work that problem out in chapter 5. No, gotta get those dialog tags out of there first. Yeah, I’ll do that, but wait! I just remembered! What I was going to have that guy say in chapter 10? And shit, what about cliff hangers at the end of each chapter??” I will never, ever get anything done!
Anyway that’s where I’m at.
Great site!
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