Clockwork Prince
discussion
Switching the POV
date
newest »
newest »
I am writing on www.fanfiction.net CoB in Jace's POV! I love the original books, but I always love to read the other characters POVs! I find it interesting to see what the other characters are portraying the series.
Well, I'm not writing fanfic, just a novel from a male POV. But, I'm glad someone else shares my opinion. :) I just feel like there's not a single good book with a male POV. I am currently reading PURE by Julianna Baggott, and it switches the view point to a boy, but the MC is still a girl.
Racheal wrote: "Well, I'm not writing fanfic, just a novel from a male POV. But, I'm glad someone else shares my opinion. :) I just feel like there's not a single good book with a male POV. I am currently reading ..."Yeah I am reading The Lorien Legacies by Pitticus Lore. In the first book , I am Number Four, it's all male POV. In the second one, which I am currently reading, The Power of Six, it switches Male/Female characters. I still like Female characters because I feel I can relate to them, but I get tired of them sometimes.
Jordan wrote: "Racheal wrote: "Well, I'm not writing fanfic, just a novel from a male POV. But, I'm glad someone else shares my opinion. :) I just feel like there's not a single good book with a male POV. I am cu..."I understand. That's why most YA novels are female perspective. That, and because the author is female and can relate better to a female as well. I think what really irks me is the whiny female characters. But sometimes, even the strong ones make me bored. It's like eating the same thing for dinner every night. Sometimes, I want steak - not chicken. LOL
Racheal wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Racheal wrote: "Well, I'm not writing fanfic, just a novel from a male POV. But, I'm glad someone else shares my opinion. :) I just feel like there's not a single good book with a ma..."haha! I always want steak..... lol!
Jordan wrote: "Racheal wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Racheal wrote: "Well, I'm not writing fanfic, just a novel from a male POV. But, I'm glad someone else shares my opinion. :) I just feel like there's not a single goo...":D
Gabrielle wrote: "Yeah I agree, I would love to read more from a males point of view and you can relate to them. Like with The Knife of Never Letting Go - is from a boys point of view and its one of the books that I..."My novel is from a male POV but his sister's view point is shown at times as well. I am doing an omniscience POV, so I play God letting every character have a view point. I had my husband read it, and he loved it. Glad you'd like to see more male points of view.
Whenever I try to write a story (not a fanfic, which i am already doing two) I ALWAYS have writers block!!!
Male POV's are so much better - I wish that TID was from Will's perspective I like the strong female protagonists, but there are so few in recent YA books that are actually strong. It's as if some of the authors say "Here: I made you a super awesome, tough heroine! No matter what you read to the contrary in this story, just remember that she is,
Not that this is what I feel about TID - I love TID - I mean many other YA books from girls' POVs of late. Tessa may not be my favorite heroine of all time, but at least she seems realistic, and we're never simply told that she acts brave - we always get evidence. I personally have my hopes set on a believable male POV...hopefully within the near future???
Gabrielle wrote: "Oh wow, that's so cool!!I always try and write short stories but they always end up getting bigger than what I can do, or it gets to complicated and I confuse myself.
But yeah, what's your about..."
This is my synopsis I have up on Authonomy:
"This is your second chance. When you die, you take one last breath. And when you take your second breath, you wake here."
Harmon just wants to escape the grim reality that is his world. His mother killed herself, and his father is an abusive alcoholic. Tilly, his sister, relies on Harmon to keep her safe.
When his father's fury results in Harmon's death, Harmon finds himself alive again in an alternate reality known as Second Breath, a new world that greatly appeals to him. But back in the other world, Tilly's life is in danger, and Harmon must find a way to return before she joins him in Second Breath.
Jordan wrote: "Whenever I try to write a story (not a fanfic, which i am already doing two) I ALWAYS have writers block!!!"I actually have some great solutions to writer's block. I wrote a blog post on it. Here:
Racheal McGillivary's Books
Alexandra wrote: "Male POV's are so much better - I wish that TID was from Will's perspective sometimes all the time, and I agree with whoever brought up the chicken vs steak analogy :) It would be great to get some..."Glad you agree. It's hard to find a good YA with a male lead. This is my first attempt, but hopefully not my last. I am enjoying it very much.
Gabrielle wrote: "Oh wow, that's so cool!!I always try and write short stories but they always end up getting bigger than what I can do, or it gets to complicated and I confuse myself.
But yeah, what's your about..."
I don't find myself getting confused, but if I were you, I would keep a outline handy with important information on it. Names, dates, quirks, etc.
Very true. Not every guy cuts himself off from the world. Harmon is very social, but he does shy away from discussions about their dead mother. Which is normal. But he's not the type to constantly push people away. Have either of you ever considered taking some writing classes to help you? I have my moments when I can't think and the words are in my head somewhere refusing to be put on paper. Sometimes I just write until things start to make sense again. Just write any words at all, even if they sound like garbage. The beauty of editing is you can go back and change it. :)
That's good! Even if you just sign up for creative writing groups at your local library or college, it can help. They are free and it's just a bunch of people writing poems and shorts fragments of stories, reading them and evaluating them. It's very useful to have other people look at your work. They can contribute by giving you fresh ideas and helping to make your writing the best it can be. No problem. I love to help. Thanks for helping me with my novel. :)
Gabrielle wrote: "Yeah I shall xxWelcomes!!
I hope it all goes well for you!!
And can i ask a question - do you think a lot of books are lacking cultural diversity?
I've noticed that the main characters are white..."
You make total sense. It is very unfortunate that our society holds white women, usually with blonde hair, to be the most beautiful and leaves everyone else out of of the running. Until you said this I had never thought about the lack of diversity in these books, but you are very correct. All the books have the main characters as white beautiful people, which does not reflect reality, nor does it represent the vast majority of their readers. I think it would be wonderful if a YA book was written with characters who weren't white and weren't staggeringly "beautiful". I think the truth is that everyone is beautiful in different ways and I wish that YA books touched on this more. Some of them mention it but I haven't seen it be a major theme in most of the books. The only one that does come to mind is The Girl of Fire and Thorns, where the MC is an overweight unattractive girl who goes on to be strong and beautiful in her own way. But to be honest I have not read even a portion of the YA books out there because most of them don't appeal to me so I could be missing some.
Gabrielle wrote: "Yeah I shall xxWelcomes!!
I hope it all goes well for you!!
And can i ask a question - do you think a lot of books are lacking cultural diversity?
I've noticed that the main characters are white..."
That's funny because I was just discussing this last night.
"No one means to discriminate their characters, or at least, I hope you don't; but we do it all the time. When we DON'T describe our MC's features, and yet describe a sub-character's features we are being discriminatory. For instance: You talk about your MC's clothing, hair, earrings, clothes, then you desrcibe MC's friend and go on, and on, and on about their dark skin, ringlet hair, Brown-black eyes. You are assuming the reader will automacilly think the MC is white, or black, or asian (whatever race YOU as the author are) and feel the need to show another character's race if they are a different race from your MC. Well, there are different races of people that read your book, and if you are white and they are black, obviously the reader will not assume the MC is white, they would think black.
It's a natural habit to assume a character we are reading about or the one we're writing is the same race as us. And while the reader isn't to blame for their natural assumption, you are. In order for you to be fair to your audience, you must describe EVERY character it the same manner your would with your MC. Or you can be sure to describe your MC's ethnicity. This is a good way to eliminate discrimination."
Erin wrote: "Gabrielle wrote: "Yeah I shall xxWelcomes!!
I hope it all goes well for you!!
And can i ask a question - do you think a lot of books are lacking cultural diversity?
I've noticed that the main ch..."
See, and that's something I wish to eliminate. My MC in JUST FOR KICKS is white, but she's pale, skinny with no boobs, and has very frizzy hair. she also dresses in clothes that are too big on here and a dirty pair of Converse that she says is the most valuable thing she owns.
I am making another character of mine Choctaw, and one black. I don't like YA books focusing on white MC's and sub-characters either.
Racheal wrote: "See, and that's something I wish to eliminate. My MC in JUST FOR KICKS is white, but she's pale, skinny with no boobs, and has very frizzy hair. she also dresses in clothes that are too big on here and a dirty pair of Converse that she says is the most valuable thing she owns.I am making another character of mine Choctaw, and one black. I don't like YA books focusing on white MC's and sub-characters either."
That's great! I will have to read your books.
I think it is interesting the way people always imagine being blonde and big-boobed as being such a wonderful thing. I am blonde and big-boobed and have always hated it. I get attention from guys that I don't want that has lead to me being sexually assaulted multiple times and my back always hurts from the big boobs that everyone wants, but no one realizes how much they suck. After a while I just always dyed my hair because I hated it so much and wore baggy shirts and sweatshirts to try to hide my boobs (yeah right, like that's possible). I don't know about other people's experiences but that has been mine and I wish people would realize that it can be more of a curse than a blessing. I do appreciate that in the books that I have read, most of the characters aren't blonde. Maybe society is moving away from that obsession? I sure hope so.
Edit: I wanted to add that I am well aware that people of all hair colors and skin colors can have horror stories or stereotypes attributed to them. I was just sharing my experience and I wanted to make clear that in no way was I trying to minimize anyone's own experience.
Back to the actual topic of the thread, I myself really enjoy reading male characters, as long as they are relatively nice people.
Racheal wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Whenever I try to write a story (not a fanfic, which i am already doing two) I ALWAYS have writers block!!!"I actually have some great solutions to writer's block. I wrote a blog p..."
Thanks! I'll definetly read that! I need it!
Gabrielle wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Whenever I try to write a story (not a fanfic, which i am already doing two) I ALWAYS have writers block!!!"Saaammmmmeee!! It so frustrating when you have a really good idea and al..."
I know! I have good ideas, but there is like no where to put them!
Gabrielle wrote: "Yeah I shall xxWelcomes!!
I hope it all goes well for you!!
And can i ask a question - do you think a lot of books are lacking cultural diversity?
I've noticed that the main characters are white..."
That makes sense! I've never noticed it before (just because when I read I picture myself as the lead) So now I see what you are saying! I'm totally going to look for a black lead in books. I would also like to see a mixed couple, you know? So that way it doesn't seem racist. I think The Mortal Instruments has one with Jordan and Maia (Jordan-- white, Maia-- mixed) but they are not even lead roles.
Erin wrote: "Racheal wrote: "See, and that's something I wish to eliminate. My MC in JUST FOR KICKS is white, but she's pale, skinny with no boobs, and has very frizzy hair. she also dresses in clothes that are..."I know what you mean. Just the other day I was walking my son home from school and a man twice my age stopped in his car to tell me I had nice legs. I was really pissed off. I'm walking with my kids for God's sake. *end rant*
Yes, sterotypes are bad and being "perfect" is never fun for a character. They need character, lol.
Jordan wrote: "Gabrielle wrote: "Yeah I shall xxWelcomes!!
I hope it all goes well for you!!
And can i ask a question - do you think a lot of books are lacking cultural diversity?
I've noticed that the main ch..."
That's funny, because in JUST FOR KICKS, my MC falls for a boy named Eli (fashioned after my nephew who died) who is black/ Russian mixed.
And another character in that book is Celia, who is Puerto Rican. I try to make people as diverse as possible.
Racheal wrote: "And another character in that book is Celia, who is Puerto Rican. I try to make people as diverse as possible."That's really good! I like when there is a variety in characters.
all discussions on this book
|
post a new topic
Perhaps Clare made a female the lead because more females read than males. BUT, I also think she did this because she knows we will read in anticipation until the next time one of these guys pops in a scene and steals our hearts.
But, I know I am tired of reading books from a female POV. I still read them, but I want to read from the male perspective. So, instead of whining about it, I'm writing it. I decided to make my third novel from the POV of a boy. And I think I'm not the only one who would really like to see this.
So, my question to you is: Would you rather read a YA novel with a female lead, or male? And why?