: Re: Switching perspective in battle scenes? I have written a book with an ensemble cast. Prior to them meeting, I simply gave each character his/her own chapter. Once they met, I narrowed the

I have a somewhat similar situation in my piece. It is not a pitched battle, but a firefight that allows for an escape.

I switch between the target of this assault - my MC - his friends guarding him and the task force hunting him. I end up with four main POVs and switch between them when it feels right.

My MC flees with the Secondary Protagonist, the Tertiary Protagonist holds off pursuit, and then there is the Secondary Antagonist who leads the hunt.

The technique I use is, when there is a lull with one, I switch to the other. My main focus is on the pursued, but the others must be there or my MC is fleeing from shadows.

My characters tell me when it is time to shift focus. Later, when I read it aloud to check for flow, I listen to see if the shifts are jarring. If anything is amiss, I add a word or remove a phrase until flow is restored.

We all have our own process. I must recommend the book Bridge Too Far - a fascinating account of the battle or Arnheim and the disasters that occurred. While it is a historical account, it is valuable to show how some perceptions can be rather skewed in battle. For example, one British Major was noted for carrying an umbrella wherever he went - including when he checked the perimeter. Others thought him extremely brave and the perfect example of stiff upper lip. He carried the umbrella because he could not recall the call signs and needed to be recognized by his own men.

Load Full (0)

: You need to get inside her head. Everyone makes sense to themselves. She has reasons for doing things and, you might disagree, but they're valid to her. She has goals and dreams and

@Sue2132873

Load Full 0 Comments

: Use for questions about book covers. This can be about the approval process, creation, paper considerations, differences between digital and paper versions, finding an artist, etc. Use in

@Sue2132873

Load Full 0 Comments

: When does inspiration across artforms become plagiarism eSpoilers for Green Book in the E.g. section I listen to a lot of music, and when I come up with stories, I often use songs as a source

@Sue2132873

Load Full 5 Comments

: Mariner Software for writers I'm boring and just use Word and Excel for writing my novel and keeping track of stuff. I've tried a couple others, including Scrivener and Evernote, but never

: Re: Switching perspective in battle scenes? I have written a book with an ensemble cast. Prior to them meeting, I simply gave each character his/her own chapter. Once they met, I narrowed the

More posts by @Sue2132873

: You need to get inside her head. Everyone makes sense to themselves. She has reasons for doing things and, you might disagree, but they're valid to her. She has goals and dreams and

: Use for questions about book covers. This can be about the approval process, creation, paper considerations, differences between digital and paper versions, finding an artist, etc. Use in

: When does inspiration across artforms become plagiarism eSpoilers for Green Book in the E.g. section I listen to a lot of music, and when I come up with stories, I often use songs as a source

: Mariner Software for writers I'm boring and just use Word and Excel for writing my novel and keeping track of stuff. I've tried a couple others, including Scrivener and Evernote, but never

Login to post a comment!

0 Comments

Back to top