You draft the first book in a series, then realize you’re telling the story from the wrong point of view. Who should be the main character, the protagonist?
In plotting book two, the secondary character, a young woman with a difficult back story and special abilities drew me in. She’s far more interesting than the grumpy Western gunfighter (sword-slinger) of book one. So I switched point of view. And stayed with her for the plotting of book three.
Book one sat in the drawer for a month. Taking it out for the edit, that nagging thought persisted. She’s a far more complex, compelling character than he is. Her point of view makes a far better story than the old-guy-with-skills we’ve seen so many times before.
The answer: re-write. Tell the better story from a new point of view.
Who’s PoV is it Anyway?
It may be the same plot, but the point of view makes it a different story. And how do you choose? Ask:
- Who is the most important character in the story?
- Who is best placed to narrate and comment on the action?
The point of view dictates how the reader experiences the story. We want to be right on the protagonist’s shoulder. We want a compelling protagonist, unique, individual, relatable, fresh. Who provides a better story?
Did F. Scott Fitzgerald do right by The Great Gatsby, not telling it from Jay Gatsby’s point of view? We get no interior life of Jay Gatsby, no insight. But it’s not that kind of story. The narrator, Nick Carroway is dull, egotistical and infuriating, but is a kind of detective, unraveling the mystery. Is it the wrong point of view? Changing the point of view makes it a very different book. But better, or worse? Jay Gatsby as an even more unreliable narrator? An anti-hero of Patrick Bateman proportions?
Great Expectations suffers dull, ignorant and deluded protagonist. Pip is a terrible, inert main character. If only Dickens told it from Estella’s point of view. Completely different book, different story. But Dickens couldn’t write it like a Bronte sister, or Edith Wharton could.
This is the question: when you’re changing point of view, does it make for a better story?
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That’s a major rewrite. how do you justify changing protagonist part way through a project?
Could’t justify NOT changing the MC. The story works so much better with Jo as the MC. Otherwise the story was a dull cut-and-paste sword-slinger adventure.