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Aloowing the MC to pull you into the story



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Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:58 pm
adamr says...



Characters, alongside the plot is the main component that pulls you into a story. I believe that my MC is interesting however at the beginning I want their to be a scene which shows a few scenes from his past in a different POV. However this will allow me to delve into what the character is really like later, is it best to to show his past from a different POV--? I thought that a different POV then show it from his perspective would allow their to be a hook to read and a progression-- what I need to know is whether it's best to find a different way to show his backstory from his POV because the scene may not seem as interesting from the Omniscient view in which I intend to show his backstory.

Opinions?

Thanks for your time.
  





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Sun Feb 11, 2007 5:02 pm
xtenx says...



In general I don't like to read stories that change in POV unless there is some pattern or consistency with that change (every other chapter or something). If you just changed it for one chapter (except for prologue/epilogue), it would strike me as odd, even if you had a good reason. It just seems like an easy alternative to me- rather than taking the time to write a crafty chapter from the same POV, you'd just change the POV...

That's just my personal opinion though. If you can pull it off well, go for it. A lot of people lose the flow of their stories when they start changing POV randomly, so make sure if you do it that you do it right. Sometimes it even becomes confusing to read when people aren't clear about whose POV it is...

It sounds like what you plan to do is interesting, so it may be worth a shot, but I personally shy away from changing POV.
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Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:43 am
adamr says...



Sorry Xtenx, I appear to have not explained correctly-- I'm not going to change the POV but I'm going to allow him to see it from a third-person view, in my own novel way in which I'm sworn to secrecy, this should a lot like in Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, when Dumbeldore, using that (forgotten the name) device and allows him to go into the past.

Basically, my story is 1st person. But using ........ he sees someone else's interpretation of his life. Meanwhile in the next few scenes you will see how he feels about those scenes.

Opinions...please?
  





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Mon Feb 12, 2007 5:57 pm
Shafter says...



I used a similar device in one of the drafts of my story, showing my MC, Émon, as a seven-year old before skipping to the present, when he's 17. My Dad read it and told me that it was confusing, because he'd gotten all psyched up for a story about a seven-year old, and suddenly the MC's 17. His advice? "Show the character as he is now, and then go back and show who he was." I switched the seven-year old scene to a flashback after I'd established Émon's present self, and it worked much better.

Hmm... does that make any sense at all?

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Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:02 pm
Snoink says...



One thing I like doing is putting the past in a surreal dream. Or something. Like, I know in FREAK, I go back to the orphanage a little while, but not literally. Instead, she just has a dream about it, and that shows off how her character is changing. And the same thing happens near the end, I think. She has a dream when Sadie and she are talking. So yeah. It's pretty cool.
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Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:08 pm
adamr says...



Cheers for the response guys. Is it best to just show it as a flashback so the MC can express his thoughts and feelings or should I allow him the MC to watch how he acted from the third-person view?

***

Shafter, does your Dad read much? Make sure that the person critiquing you knows their stuff-- my dad tried to give me advice-- and well, he ain't much of a read. Although he's probably right.
  





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Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:49 am
Myth says...



I like reading flashbacks, only if it isn't mine.

For my sci-fi novel I have two chapters of a character and what she was like five years before the whole story takes place. Then, in chapter three, I have her as she is now, sometimes there are 'flashbacks' that aren't really flashbacks, sort of remembering what she would like to forget.

If that makes any sense...
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'...'
  








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