My fourth novel was originally written from a male viewpoint because it was the hero's story I wanted to tell, but maybe more so because it felt comfortable that way. A few chapters in I posted it on a well-known critique site. I received some useful feedback but was advised that I'd do better to swap to a female POV as that's what women readers preferred. Did they?
Anyway, I took this advise on board and my heroine, Roisin Connor, was born. Now, I love her to bits but I often wonder how the book would've turned out if I'd told Lex's story instead.
I was thinking about this when I came across an interview with Sue Moorcroft on the Singles Titles website. Her two novels Starting Over and All That Mullarkey, published by Choc Lit, both feature the hero's pov. Luckily, she has a male friend who can read her chapters to double check if her hero is thinking like a man. Particularly liked the line about 'lifting hems'. To see what I mean, read Sue's interview here.
2 comments:
Interesting post, Sue. I often wonder when I'm reading books what it would have been like if told through the eyes of another character. Can bring some interesting twists and turns and definitely something to think about when writing our own stories. A change of viewpoint could make all the difference.
Couldn't help but notice typo who's/whose?! in blog title! Am confused now - maybe it's me? It doesn't take much to confuse me.
Julie xx
No, you're right, Julie, wrong spelling. How'd I miss that one? It's even a pet hate of mine along with 'your' for 'you're'!
Now corrected. 100 lines on the use of the apostrophe! x
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