Troublesome Changes In The Book During The Writing Process

~ aurorajeanalexander

In the past few years, I often described my common writing process here on ‘Writer’s Treasure Chest.’ I will do that once again today.

  1. Thinking of an idea
  2. Drafting the story by hand first
  3. Typing the draft into the computer
  4. Self-editing
  5. Sending to editor
  6. … and so on…

Now, this time, with book number 7 in the series, I am facing a few difficulties I never had before.

After finishing drafting the story by hand, I decided to change the POV from first to third-person omniscient.

That means to me, I need to concentrate awfully hard switching the passages I had drafted in the first person POV.

You might ask now: How come you needed to change the POV? And I have to answer: because there is so much happening in that book, it wouldn’t do the story justice to only delineate it from one person’s view. Also, I’m not the biggest fan of switching between two or even more POV’s during the book. I don’t like that when I’m reading a book, and I sure won’t do that when I write mine. I think it’s irritating and annoying.

But the difficulties to ‘re-think’ during typing the story I know so well is exhausting and, at times, debilitating. I’m used to typing quite fast when I move from the hand-draft to the computer, and I only stop occasionally to correct typos and ‘stuff.’

What I have to do now is different, and it takes its toll on me.

Is there anyone who can advise me on that? Do you have experience with this kind of re-writing, and how did you handle it?

Thank you for your help!

21 thoughts on “Troublesome Changes In The Book During The Writing Process”

  1. I have done this before albeit only with an eighty page novella that was to be serialized in a magazine and found that I got so mixed up that I was losing the thread occasionally along the way. So much so that I rewrote the tale in it’s entirety. I suspect that this is not what you wished to hear hoping for a quick fix. If there is one then I never found it.
    It is worth noting however that these rewrites are rarely a waste of time. A few years later I was asked to do a first person take on the story (lol- sort of Beowulf from the perspective of the Grendel) which was great fun and perspectives are easier to change.
    Sorry I could not have been more help.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your experience. I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, I learned that there is most likely no ‘easy fix’ for that. And you have been of help, of course! Reading through the post and taking the time to comment already helps a lot!

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  2. Wow… that is a tall order. Most of my work, as you know, has been a kind of blend between first person and the third-person omniscient.

    When I work in this mode, I keep switching heads so to speak (within a scene) and let the reader’s know what’s going on in just that person’s head. This is how I keep the first person POV, but by switching heads and giving ANOTHER first person POV, the reader also gets the third-person experience. At the same time, the overall story continues to flow in a manner similar to the usual first-person POV you are used to.

    What I love most about this style is that since each character only knows so much, unless one of the other characters shares info with them, you have justification for how each person behaves that the reader can relate to. And you keep the story flowing all at the same time.

    Hope this helps. Good luck!

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  3. It also took me awhile to figure out which POV I like best (turns out it’s third-limited). So I have rewritten stories, changing up the POV.
    I don’t think changing from first to third has much to do with the number of POVs though. I used to find switching between POVS pretty annoying too as a reader. I guess my reading tastes have changed and it doesn’t bother me like it used to. Anyway, back when it bugged me, whether there were multiple first-person POV characters, multiple third-limited POV characters, or the whole thing was in third-omniscient, I found it all equally annoying. The type of POV doesn’t have much to do with the number of POVS, save for third-ominiscient. With third-limited or first, you could have one POV character or many.

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    1. I really appreciate your view on things. It helps me a lot. It also helps me to agree to my own decision to change the POV to third-person omniscient. I am writing a young-adult series and I think one POV per book for young readers is enough. Again, thank you for your opinion. It helps me a lot!

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  4. Hi Aurora, I used third person omniscient for the main part of my book The Catalyst as it was based on a true story. But, as the female protagonist was fictitious, using first person was more convenient and seemed to work better. In fact, two people who read it, commented that her viewpoint was their favourite part of the book. It’s never that easy to knit any book together, unless you’re a genius or a gifted writer, but worth the effort and brain-storming if you’re happy with the end result.Good luck! Hugs xx

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    1. Hello Joy. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Usually, I prefer writing in the first person POV, but in this particular book of the series there are so many things happening, where that particular character won’t participate, I think it might be better to change.

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  7. Pingback: Troublesome Changes In The Book During The Writing Process — Writer’s Treasure Chest – yazım'yazgısı (typography)

  9. My first three books were originally written in omniscient POV, but when I discovered deep POV, I rewrote each one. However, I do use more than one POV in each. I only change the POV per scene, not within a scene. I find that it gives the reader a deeper view into the personality and quality of each important character.

    Usually the POVs will be in the main character (almost always the heroine in my writing), the hero, the villain, and maybe another character who plays an important part in the heroine or hero’s life (but only when absolutely necessary). I always start out with the main character’s POV in the first scene, at least. Also, with each scene, I make sure I have a thought or dialogue from the POV character to establish who’s “telling” the story at that point, so the reader knows right away who’s “eyes” we’re looking through.

    Hope this helps, AJ, even if you don’t use multi POVs. Best wishes. Rewriting the story so you’re satisfied with it is always worthwhile, though it may take a lot of patience on your part. 🙂

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