I wish all my scene transitions went as smoothly. Ah, that’s what the editor’s pen is for.

If you’re going to have more than one POV, each character must have a vital place in the story. Otherwise, they belong in the sidelines.

Too many become confusing, however.

There’s been many times where I’ve teared up while writing a scene that hits close to home. Luckily, I was by myself when those jags would occur so I didn’t have to explain them to my family.

Memoir and essay writing leaves me little room to mess with POV. For me, it’s all 1st person.
I dabbled in a bit of fiction when I wrote a short story called “The Spaces in Between”, a story about the absence of my roots because I’m adopted.
Through the story, I felt as though I’d almost “met” my mother.
It was very emotional to write it. But I felt like such a whimp during certain sections when the tears would fall and I just couldn’t stop them.

~m

Were you able to finish the survival story?

Based on what I know about Lost to date, I’ve picked out five characters that I feel have the best chance of surviving this island. That’s still pushing it as far as the POVs go, but it’s more manageable than fourteen.

I read the first book of George R.R. Martin’s series and enjoyed it. His other two are on my “To Read Someday” list. As for my story, I may print out what I’ve written so far and see if I can follow George’s example.

I like the idea of the paranormal character working in an office job. It’s too bad that you had to nix those scenes. Perhaps you can place them in another story?

The most difficult piece I wrote had eight characters on a survival type camping trip. Four women, four men. It was a bit nightmarish to write because I felt I had to get each character equal time in the piece while also keeping the story moving forward. In the end, it felt, as you already described, fragmented in both character development and plot.

I don’t think I’ve ever gone beyond about four POVs, with one or two dominating, while the others were largely peripheral.

I was having a heck of a time with “office scenes” in current WIP. I like the idea of having a very un-mundane, paranormal character working in an ordinary job. In fact, the character actually is better at her ordinary job than the paranormal one. But I was having a hard time getting into those scenes.

Ultimately, it turned out, I’d forgotten an important subplot I’d set up earlier. And in doing so, had rendered the office scenes pointless. Working with a critique partner helped sort that out.