Tricky Bit

[Zee 1,632]

So I find myself in a situation where one story overlaps another in time, and an extremely minor character in one book’s climatic scene is the protagonist of the next book...and because of the timeline, I need to replay that scene from his POV.

 

The catch is, it’s not super important in the current story, but it’s not minor enough that I can just pass it over. Has anybody ever done something like this?

[HK1 1,629]

14 minutes ago, Zee said:

Has anybody ever done something like this?

I've read books where the author has done this, but I've never done it myself. I don't see a problem having the scene over again from your new character's POV. Having it from the different POV will add new details and thoughts and will keep it from seeming that much like a repeat.

[PenName 1,577]

I saw a book where this sort of thing was done, and I thought it was just the coolest thing. @HK1 has good advice. Use the different POVs to your advantage. 

[EClayRowe 823]

One of my favorite films is the Japanese Rashomon,  a murder mystery presented from the points-of-view of several eyewitnesses. So it's a very cool idea.

 

So I needed a way for a present-day academic to get to a far-future colony ship. So that lead to an origin story where his memories and personality were recorded without his knowledge and accidentally downloaded into a young criminal who goes on the run to sell the data. 

 

That was a writing experiment, to see if two different people could behave exactly the same way in an overlap scene but have it mean something different. Still working on it once in a while.

[carolinamtne 4,280]

Sounds like an interesting idea! Care to share some of it?

[Shamrock 1,428]

All good advice.

 

If you have not published the book with the first minor scene in then you can go back and work on it otherwise as HK1 says writing it again from another POV with new insights should work well.

 

[EClayRowe 823]

On 7/11/2020 at 8:12 AM, carolinamtne said:

Sounds like an interesting idea! Care to share some of it?

I'm not sure I'm ready to write it yet. My idea file is crazy big.

[Nicola 1,488]

4 hours ago, EClayRowe said:

I'm not sure I'm ready to write it yet. My idea file is crazy big.

I am impressed with that idea and hope it comes to fruition in its time.  

 

On 7/9/2020 at 3:37 PM, Zee said:

The catch is, it’s not super important in the current story, but it’s not minor enough that I can just pass it over. Has anybody ever done something like this?

Perhaps it is important!  Think really deeply and let the scene cogitate a while. Let your sense of wonder drift free and see what comes!

[Zee 1,632]

Well, the scene in question is in the Critique Forum now, so we’ll see what folks say...