Writing from 2 difficult perspectives
I'm about 10,000 words into my current WIP, which is starting to pick up speed in terms of the plot. The thing is, I've started to run into some complexities in how I'm using the voices of my two main protagonists.
Well, technically one of these protagonists is the antagonist. He can be merciless, rude, and quite illegal. But behind that he also has one very key weakness. I've just finished the scene where the other main character has discovered this weakness, and is preparing to use it to her advantage.
But how do you write properly from the point of view of someone who's supposed to be brilliant? It's proving to be quite a daunting challenge. I'm certainly not brilliant. I worry that my two characters (both of whom are witty and intelligent in their own ways) are going to come out sounding slow and stupid (i.e. like me!), missing obvious solutions and creating unnecessary problems for themselves.
One solution to this that seems to be working a little is to get the opinions of several other people. They don't have to be world-class geniuses--all they need to have is an instant opinion about whether or not one of my character's thoughts or ideas is stupid. If I start hearing the same reaction from 2 or more people, I'll know that I have a problem. Another way of asking other people for help is to ask them, "If you were [main protagonist], what would you do or think in this situation?" If I get several responses that are the same, then there's a good chance that that might be the most obvious solution. Even if it isn't, I can at least have a good starting point, and try to expand from there.
It's nice to see what the average reader might assume or presume in a fictional situation. This is one way to make sure I don't stumble into something obvious that will make my readers think I'm an idiot.
(Btw, if you DO have a genius friend....by all means, pick his brains!!)
Well, technically one of these protagonists is the antagonist. He can be merciless, rude, and quite illegal. But behind that he also has one very key weakness. I've just finished the scene where the other main character has discovered this weakness, and is preparing to use it to her advantage.
But how do you write properly from the point of view of someone who's supposed to be brilliant? It's proving to be quite a daunting challenge. I'm certainly not brilliant. I worry that my two characters (both of whom are witty and intelligent in their own ways) are going to come out sounding slow and stupid (i.e. like me!), missing obvious solutions and creating unnecessary problems for themselves.
One solution to this that seems to be working a little is to get the opinions of several other people. They don't have to be world-class geniuses--all they need to have is an instant opinion about whether or not one of my character's thoughts or ideas is stupid. If I start hearing the same reaction from 2 or more people, I'll know that I have a problem. Another way of asking other people for help is to ask them, "If you were [main protagonist], what would you do or think in this situation?" If I get several responses that are the same, then there's a good chance that that might be the most obvious solution. Even if it isn't, I can at least have a good starting point, and try to expand from there.
It's nice to see what the average reader might assume or presume in a fictional situation. This is one way to make sure I don't stumble into something obvious that will make my readers think I'm an idiot.
(Btw, if you DO have a genius friend....by all means, pick his brains!!)
