Read Tom Perrotta’s latest novel a few days ago (as all his novels have been, this one is excellent and features a guy who can’t grow up). Was fascinated with his point of view choices and the way they helped shape the novel. Realized that what was going on in my murky subconscious was multiple point-of-view envy.
The WIP is Eve’s alone and, while I know it’s the right choice for this story, it’s starting to wear me down. She’s in every scene. Her viewpoint is the only lense through which readers see the world. In practical terms, this is hard to maintain for more than 269 pages, which is the current page count. And I need more like 330. There is one scene I still have to write, but I’m sure it won’t be a 60 page scene. It’s a funeral, for one thing.
It’s possible that I may have to add one more pov to this book in my next revision, which would be okay. I’ve got a lot of scenes already written from Lily’s pov that would slot in nicely. But somehow when I did the read through with them in way back when, they seemed to detract from the structure more than add to the story. So it’s become a challenge to me, and it just feels more appropriate, to have the whole story be Eve’s. I should be able to do this.
My next story, which presented itself to me quite some time ago, has at least two point of views. Finding self more and more anxious to start that one every day, answering the question I always have at some point in a WIP, which is: will I have to write another one?
The answer, as it has always been thus far, is YES.