Writing in first person format, with two seperate characters
You know, like, two different characters in the same story. But like, they have seperate stories within that story. And the writer alternates from one's p.o.v to the other throughout.
Is that like, ok to do? or is it a nono?
sry 4 such a rookie ?ion lol.
Check out Only Revolutions by Mark Danielewski.
Just don't make it super confusing. You've got to establish some sort of distinguishing factor between the two narrators, then you should be fine.
My current novel has 7 characters, each in first person. I divide the novel by their perspectives. The only tricky part is when they interact.
I'd say it's up to you. I'd just make it clear who is speaking at all times.
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Sounds good to me, but what do I know. I think Ill try it though.
an example that stands out is
as i lay dying by faulkner
also, karen novak's first novel 5 mile house goes back and fourth with third and first and it's intriguing.
baer's novel penny dreadful makes art out of switching pov: phineas is in first and other characters are presented in third--definitely a must to check out.
lately ive been switching 3rd person pov from one chapter to another with the two main characters. seems to add more texture for this particular story than using first from each character. really, though, it depends heavily on the story being told and how it's structured..
your choice, when it comes down to it. good luck. remember that the workshop is a great place to try different things, in early draft form especially.
-kabol
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play hard, like it's work to be done.
Make sure their voices are distinctive. Maybe outline the story before you start and write all the sections with one character in a row (while skipping over the second character). And when you finish that, write the sections with the other character. Then it won't be as difficult as switching back and forth with each new POV.
I have a novella where I shift the POVs between three different characters. I was afraid they would sound too much alike, so I wrote the most important character in first person and wrote the other 2 in third. I guess that's a little awkward. Still, I'm pretty sure I used the technique I described above.
Also, make sure you put the second person's point of view in the novel early on. It just comes off as jarring, reading 100 pages as one character, and then suddenly being introduced to a new one.
yes, yes, to becca thee listen !!
it's always a funny kinda thing. you dont wanna switch up too early, but you also dont wanna hit the reader too late. a great way to see this applied is in movies. i was thinking about this the other day while watching sin city. everyone had the same grim feel to their accounts. watching the camera cutting to the next scene, which is always a segway-in line or two that makes the characters by mickey rourk or clive owen or bruce willis stand out on their own.
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play hard, like it's work to be done.
Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club comes to mind--she has eight different characters with eight different stories that come together perfectly in the end.
I wrote a good chunk of a novel using two narrators.
But it was awsum and experementil becose in the same paragraph I'd alternate between narrators without and announcing the shift. It was beautiful and unreadable.
thanks for sharing.blackhawk tactical pants.
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