Get Closer

This week I had my fourth tutorial. It was very positive but there is a key area that needs work. On the plus side, my tutor is happy with the content and the structure and feels that there is a strong story. I am relieved as the last thing I want to do at this stage is start deconstructing the chapters that I’ve written so far. In addition, if I’m not telling a strong story I’m in trouble. Although my tutor is content with the characters and understands their motivation etc I still haven’t got to grips with the voice. We think that the main reason for this is that in my day job I have been required to write in a very objective way; stripping out all opinion and emotion. Interestingly, I seem to have no problem with dialogue and letters from my character. That’s because I am right there in her mind. As soon as I go back to the third person I become too distant from her. We discussed going back and writing her in the first person but this is too restrictive for the story that I’m telling. We then discussed my writing her in the first person and then changing it back. I have now started to do this and it has made a difference.
This week Emma Darwin has been blogging about this very element of writing. http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2011/10/point-of-view-narrators-3-external-narrators.html
She also suggests the approach that I describe above. Although I wish that I could have achieved the right voice from the start, I do feel that I have learnt something. If I were able to get the story, plot, narrative, characters, dialogue and voice beautifully from the start then I would have been extremely lucky!