WIP challenge - day 18 check-in

[lacygrey]

Hello, what project have you worked on today?

Poll #7845

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12

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What were your ficcish activities today?

View Answers

Drabble-length writing <100?
1 (8.3%)

Ficlet-length writing <1000?
4 (33.3%)

More? >1000
6 (50.0%)

Just notes?
1 (8.3%)

Something else you'd like to tell us about in comments?
0 (0.0%)

For discussion: How do you choose your point-of-view character for a scene or story? Do you choose your favorite, or another character who can direct their point of view at your favorite so the reader can 'see them'? Do you think you are influened by which characters are most popular with the fandom overall?

Comments

[ficwriter1966]

It varies for me. I think I've done a little bit of everything, depending on what I want to accomplish in that particular story.

Am I influenced by fandom on that particular score? No, I don't think so. I've used outsider POV a few times because that seems to be popular, but generally speaking, I just do what feels right for me and for the story.

[jagnikjen]

Oh, squee, 1600 words and counting on a plot bunny from this morning.

Oh, squee, 1600 words and counting on a plot bunny from this morning.

POV character--as ficwriter1966 said, whatever is right or necessary for that story or scene. Generally, the POV character should be the one with the most at stake or with the most to lose. Sometimes, though, you do need the perspective from another character if they have important information to give the reader but not other characters (which they could do in dialogue).

I wrote a scene the other day that just didn't feel right and I finally determined that I needed to write it from another character's POV. Once I did that, it flowed much more smoothly. :)

My favorite character has nothing to do with POV.

And I'm most definitely not influenced by favorite characters of fandoms. Robin Hood is the best example of that. :) Most of the fandom seems to prefer Guy of Gisborne (played by the lovely and talented Richard Armitage) over Robin Hood. But Robin's my fave and most of my RH fics feature him.

[katzenjamming]

So... I just downloaded the Windows beta for Scrivener and my is it sexy. I've been needing to organize my writings anyway, particularly my multi-chapter works and have been spending the day doing that, with some notes and editing along the way.

I feel like that person with all the Unpopular Fandom Opinions™, which includes what characters I latch onto. As far as POV, it's all over the place, though I would suppose that the deciding factor there would be the story I'm trying to tell. Otherwise, I've noticed that I tend to write from the POV of characters that aren't my favorite -- not necessarily to highlight the ones I do like more, but because I can understand them better. I'm a sucker for those mysterious, complicated, often morally ambiguous types which tend to be a pain to convey. But by writing for these other characters, I usually gain an appreciation for them I didn't before!

[anehan]

I'm seeing yesterday's poll in this entry. Weird.

[ficwriter1966]

I wrote a scene the other day that just didn't feel right and I finally determined that I needed to write it from another character's POV. Once I did that, it flowed much more smoothly.

That's happened to me a couple of times! I got a fic started, and it just went nowhere - writing just a few paragraphs was like pulling teeth. But once I'd changed the POV, everything flowed smoothly.

The story knows best, I think!

[jagnikjen]

2100 words and still going strong, though I'm on the downhill slide toward the climax. :)

[dragonfly]

1400 words, due solely to anehan's fic writing sessions. \0/ yay

POV character. I definitely write from the POV of some character other than the one that fascinates me. I get to have outsider POV on the one I like, and, also, it allows my readers to project their version of that (usually enigmatic or opaque) character onto my portrayal of hir.

[lacerta]

So much editing. It's nice having a (very rough) draft to hold on to, but oh dear, so much editing.

[lacerta]

Heh, I had the exact same reaction to Scrivener. It's so pretty and organized.

[lea_hazel]

I seem to often be at odds with others about who the fascinating or sympathetic characters are, especially in my current main fandom. I often choose favorite characters for POV, since I like to write POV-centric stories that are about the character's inner world, and only rarely write action-centered stories, where the POV character needs to be whoever can reveal the next step of the plot. My current WIP is pretty plotty, but the main thread of action so far has been the protagonist's thought process, so it's only had one POV.

[bay_alexison]

No writing today, but I was able to get some edits done for the first chapter of my Big Bang fic and send it to my beta. Other than that, I'm a bit stuck where I want the direction of the third chapter to go, so instead I was rereading some parts of one fic that has a similar concept I'm going for and see if anything sparks. Nothing yet, but hopefully I'll figure it out soon, otherwise I'll just make up something to get from point A to point B because I don't want to delay this.

I pretty much choose the POV depending who has more thoughts/emotions over certain scenes. A lot of times it'll depend where the character is and if anyone is around. One of the things I tend to love to do is after I have a scene of the POV of one character, the other character I would have him reflect what happened from the last scene. I hope this makes sense. XD;

[lacygrey]

I know exactly how you feel!! Its great to have something written, but boy does the editing multiply with the word count...pity the beta-to-be.

[lacygrey]

I'd love to hear your opinion on Scrivener after you've used it for a while. I was tempted but thought it might be a bit showy (i.e. it would attract unwanted attention to what I was writing). I thought I'd try out ywriter for starters as I finally have a project that could do with more organising that a word processor alone can deliver.

I find I like visiting the heads of unusual (and sometimes unpleasant) characters too. I'm doing the POV of a popular character at the moment though. He tends not to be a POV character so often though because he's a 'bishonen' so, if you write from someone else's POV, you can admire him ^_^

[lacygrey]

Sorry about that. I botched it/screwed up. I was trying to copy the code so I could ask the same questions and managed to copy the poll itself - meaning that the polls for the 17th and 18th, and their results, are fused.

I'm learning...slowly

[lacygrey]

And I'm most definitely not influenced by favorite characters of fandoms

I think that this was the main reason I asked the question. I can see in my own that there is a tendency, even within the works of a single author, for the readers to prefer a particular point of view. And, as my present fic doesn't take this, I know I'm not courting popularity. But still, I'm doing what I feel and also what comes most naturally - I chose a character who is half expected to be comtemplative, which makes him easier to write.

[katzenjamming]

I'll admit that I'm pretty shallow and simply love how aesthetically pleasing the program is, but from a cursory glance at the ywriter site and using Scrivener for two-and-a-half days, on the surface they do seem to have a lot of the same functions (organizing docs into scenes, note cards, etc.). Perhaps I'll do a review or when I'm more comfortable with it and have the time!

To be completely honest, I probably veer towards writing POV of characters that admire certain others because I admire those characters too. :P I'm always self-conscious about coming across as too much of a fangirl over that character, though!