DZ-Jay's Random Blog - Christmas Carol: A Short Story - Part XIV

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So, having declared my ultimatum in Part XIII, I went directly to the story manuscript and something amazing happen: I started writing, continuing right were I left off, and the words and the sentences just poured out from my hands like water from a faucet. It was incredible! I ended up not only finishing Chapter 8 but writing three more chapters after that!



Haha! No.

I actually played around in the AA forum (fora?) for quite a bit longer, then answered some PMs, looked up a couple of trivial things online, and eventually ... I found my way back to the manuscript. I did manage to start writing again and continue right were I left off, but I only got about a page more.

Hey, it's something, so I feel accomplished.

I did learn something, though. I figured out what was bothering me, which kept me from coming back to the story. It has something to do with the narrator's perspective.

You see, so far, the entire story is being told by an omniscient narrator from Carol's point of view. That is, the narrator knows everything that's happening, but is mostly following Carol around, so that's all the reader gets. Sure, once in a while, the reader gets a bit of insight directly from the narrator that Carol is not privy to, such as when the narrator reassures the reader that the scary loud howl which Carol thinks comes from the Ghost, is actually the wind; but most of the time we just see what Carol is doing and learn the actions of others typically from Carol's reactions to them, or by her own words describing what happened.

So then it occurred to me, what about the big master plan of the Snowman? Or the cute and silly interactions between the Snowman and the Ghost? Do we have to just view them from Carol's perspective, which means that she has to be conveniently present through all of it? Do I have to play the stupid and lazy "exposition" bad movies and books do where, not having figured out a better way to convey information to the reader, they end up having one character talking to themselves in long monologues essentially spoon-feeding the plot to the reader? (I sure hate those!)

I guess I could continue that way, following Carol around, and see where it goes ... or ... I could also have the omniscient narrator be, you know, omniscient and go follow the other characters and tell us what they're doing.

It's that last one that intrigues me. But will it work? It seems like a big deal to try it. Not having written anything before, and being kind of a complete amateur just bumbling my way through this writing thing, can I really pull that off?

I don't know. More importantly, my subconscious didn't know either, so in true-to-form procrastinating fashion, I guess it decided to avoid the whole thing -- and here we are.

A week later, and having brought this apparently deep-seated concern to the forefront, I still don't have an answer. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was worth a shot. Perhaps me thinking so much about it actually means that I know it's the best possible solution, but I'm just too chicken shit to try it and discover I suck at it. My subconscious self has a tendency to try to spare my self-esteem that way, and I can't fault it for that.

So I'm going for it, jumping in with both feet! I'm going to try to peel off the narrator from Carol Greenleaf's back, cut the umbilical cord, and let him loose in the Ice Cube Caverns with the Ghost Of Christmas Presents and the Evil Snowman. Let's see what happens.

I came up with (what I think is) a perfect way to introduce the change of viewpoint:

Every once in a while, Carol could hear the faint and very distant howl of the Evil Snowman echoing through the tunnel, bringing chills down her spine. She could tell the fiend was somewhere ahead, yet still very far away, so she didn't feel too threatened. Nevertheless, she resolved to stay alert. "I don't think that rotten chestnut is coming this way, so I'll be safe as long as he doesn't enter this tunnel," she told herself. "But if he does, as soon as I hear those big, booming footsteps coming my way, I'll just turn around and run back to the Candy Cove and hide!"

Carol's fears (although well placed and sensible, considering her situation) were unfounded; for at that very moment, the Evil Snowman was busy, focusing all his attention on a new foul plan. Ever since that close encounter in the Frosted Maze, the devilish villain had been made aware of Carol's presence, and has sought to keep her out of his way.

Ever the cunning monster, the Evil Snowman came up with a rather clever plan.

At that point, I'll just describe the Evil Snowman's plan which includes hacking the Bad Toy robot to ambush Carol, and building an ice cube trap to capture her.

I really hope it works. No pressure, yo'!

OK so that's it for this installment. Time to get back to work. Until next time.

See ya'!
-dZ.









http://atariage.com/forums/blog/743/entry-15117-christmas-carol-a-short-story-part-xiv/