Hi everybody,
Just wanted to let you know I’ve added chapters 2 and 3! I have the feeling I might hone these chapters again before I’m done but I’m happy with them tonight and wanted to share.
I’m writing Chapter 12 now but Chapter 2 was probably the most difficult chapter for me to write so far because I was starting to toy with point of view and struggled with what my approach would be. Originally I was torn between staying strictly with Milo, and seeing his arch-enemy Dylan only from Milo’s point of view in these early chapters, or else starting to jump around in point of view and start to see things from Dylan’s side. I think in the end I did both: we’re introduced to Dylan through Milo’s eyes, but then partway through chapter 2 we make the first leap into another character’s POV.
Jumping into different point of views is strange new territory for me as a screenwriter. In screenplays you can’t really do that. You can cut to a new scene and a different character, or maybe SUGGEST a slight shift in POV during a scene. But that’s nothing compared to diving into another character’s head completely, or even jumping between characters within a single scene. I can still see a version of this story I could tell strictly from Milo’s point of view, but I think that would be limiting. I think getting to know all the characters from inside their heads is the best way to tell this story and is frankly just more fun.
The next time I post I may leap forward in the story to a later chapter -- I’m impatient to show you guys some of the crazier alien stuff that happens next.
--Chris
