*yawn*

[ksmith]

Finally, finally, *finally* finished a chapter that had just been dragging on and dragging on. It wasn't even a particularly long chapter--maybe 8 or 9 pages--but it flowed liked chopped rock. I think the problem is that I still don't quite have the handle on this POV, so actions are up in the air. Would she do this? Would she do that? At this point, almost everything rates at least a Maybe, and that makes it difficult to move forward in a definitive manner.

Of course, this is first draft. It's all supposed to suck anyway.

One thing is settled. POV is stubborn.

Comments

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

"Jani" = "high note". Must ponder this seeming dichotomy... *g*

Anyway, it was a partly organic/partly conscious decision, but yeah, this series does have a natural end.

I really admire the writers who can keep series going over many books, who can keep the characters and settings fresh from book to book. Possibly due to my limited reading, I see this most in mystery. There's a series, and there's backstory, but the latter doesn't grow so big over time that it overwhelms the individual tales. This is most likely because the plots are for the most part separate from the backstory--except in rare cases, the protag's life isn't an integral part of the crime/action. In the Jani books, backstory and plot are so intertwined that if you removed too much of one, the other wouldn't make sense.

I don't think one style is necessarily better than the other. I think the separate plot/backstory may be easier to sustain over time, but I confess that this is a lunchtime rumination and I haven't had time to give it much thought.