HOME ABOUT PUBLISHED WORK CURRENT PROJECTS THE MENAGERIE CONTACT

Current Projects -- May, 2009

Rethinking POV

In the ultimate example of putting the cart before the horse, I wrote a query letter for my novel:

Ten-year-old Lucas Gibson knows there's not enough money for his mom's textbooks, a new alternator, or even a Mega Mini Scooter, but he's not worried. His dad has been hired to train an imported retriever for a field trial, and he promises that when they win, their family problems will be over. But the promise seems lost when his father is killed in an accident that disables both Lucas and the dog and leaves their family deep in debt.

Still, Lucas can't forget. Despite his mother's objections, the boy takes on the challenge of rehabbing the dog. Joined by his wayfaring uncle and a woman who trains chickens for carnivals, Lucas sets out to save his crumbling family only to find that field trials don't make people rich, the bank is going to foreclose regardless, and worst of all, winning will require him to choose between his father's dream and the dog he loves. His dad's promise sure isn't turning out like Lucas expected. Can his family help him preserve his faith in his father and his father's dream?

A FATHER'S PROMISE, a 100,000 word novel written for the commercial/mainstream fiction market, is a story of hope and healing as three generations of an estranged family come together to fulfill a father's last promise to his son.

I asked some people for feedback, and nearly everyone thought that it sounded like a middle grade or young adult novel. They thought it would be dificult to have a 10-year-old protagonist carry a mainstream novel, especially for a full 100,000 words.

I agree! Problem is, Lucas isn't the protagonist -- his uncle Charm is. But you'd NEVER know that from reading this query. I tried rewriting the query focusing on Charm instead, and it wasn't nearly as clear or compelling. That bugged me, and I've been mulling about it for a while.

It occurred to me today that it may be that this query works well because it's the better way of telling the story. To focus on Lucas instead of Charm would make it an entirely different book. It *would* be a middle grade or young adult novel, and it would focus much more specifically on the A plot, which would cut the word count significantly. I would stick strictly to Lucas's point of view, which would mean that I would have to ensure all key events occurred in his presence. In the same vein, I'd have to change how many of the events happen, because Lucas would need to be the driving force of much of what happens. I would also still want the basic character arcs I had planned for the other characters to occur, but they too would need to happen when Lucas could witness them.

I'm completely torn about whether I should do this. It's not like I have the whole thing written and just can't bear to start over. I just wish I knew which way would turn out the better book. It would really suck to guess wrong!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Archives:

Writing-related blogs:

Favorite writing sites: