Sunday, September 27, 2015

Writing update + question

Hi everyone! I hope you're having an absolutely amazing weekend!
We've been super busy starting the school year and I haven't really had time to post on here much other then a story on Friday. :) So this is an update, and then I have a question I'd love y'all's opinion on as well!
I'm working an a few different projects for writing right now. No Greater Love, the blog story I've been posting is coming along quite well! I've also been working on a WWII story/book that I'm having a lot of fun with. It's coming along nicely and it's been fascinating to research! Plus, even though I'm only about 5 chapters in, I've already fallen quite in love with the characters. ;)
My third project is. . .The Silent Blade! I've been working on editing it, re-writing some scenes, taking some out, etc.
And this is where my question comes in. The Silent Blade is written generally in two different points of view. Eira's and Kevin's, although there are sometimes where the POV switches to Casimir.  As I've been working on it, I've considered switching everything over to Eira's POV because I know that's how books are usually written. My question is, do you enjoy reading books with more then one POV?
Here's a sample chapter from The Silent Blade. If you need a quick reminder as to who the characters are, I posted the first chapter here.


        Chapter 4
“No, Kevin. It's what he wants. Can’t you see that?” Aeden, the leader of the three mysterious men pulled Kevin around to face him. “Once Merek knows he has your siblings, he’ll not go looking for you anymore because you’ll come to him. He knows how you feel about your family. The most natural thing would be for you to try and get them back.
Kevin stared at him for a long moment, his eyes flashing, “They are my siblings. Whether you come or not is up to you, but I’m going. We all know where they’re headed, am I right?” he glanced around the circle of men. One by one they all nodded.
“Of course, Kevin. We all know where they’d go and Merek knows that we would know. It’s what he’s counting on,” Aaron said in exasperation. “Don’t you see? It’s a trap, Kevin. And you're just going to walk straight into it?”
It was Kevin’s turn to be exasperated, “What do you take me for? What have we been trying to do for the last four years? Get Merek of course! Now he’s given me a perfect excuse to do it. We’ll get Willem and Eira back and at the same time, we’ll get Merek.”
“How? We don’t have enough men and you know it. Merek has a band of followers that are there to carry out his every wish.”
“We’re three more then we were before,” Kevin stubbornly replied.
Aaron shook his head in defeat. When an O’Brien made up his mind, there was no stopping him. It was either go along for the ride or else. He chose to go along for the ride.
“One more thing, I need you to go into Dublin and bring Casimir Lannon back here,” Kevin announced.
This was met with silence as the men glanced at one another uncertainty. Kevin had always been very quiet about their group, telling no one. Why did he want this Casimir anyway?
Aaron finally asked the question everyone was thinking, “Kevin, who is Casimir and why do you want him?”
“Casimir is a close friend of Willem. . .and Eira. I think he will be an advantage.”
“How?”
“Well, to start with he’s better with a sword then any of you and second, Merek would not be expecting him.”
“What can one person do against Merek’s band? He’s got at least thirty-five men and they all hate you with a passion.”
“One person can do quite a lot.”
Aaron sighed, Kevin was sidestepping the question. 
“I’ll send a note with you. Desmond, Casimir’s father, is on our side. Merek did more to him then he did to any of us. He’ll let Casimir come," Kevin continued. 
“Alright, Kevin. If you think it's best, I’ll go for him.” Aaron gave his friend a slap on the shoulder, then slipped his sword into its sheath, “I’ll be back before dark.” Without another word, he disappeared from sight.
                                        -----

Casimir could sense that something was wrong. He glanced around uneasily. 
Without warning, a man stepped forward.
“You are Casimir?”
He nodded, “I am.”
“My name is Aaron. I was asked by Kevin O’Brien to come and fetch you. I went by your house and delivered a note to your father. He said I would find you here.”
Casimir released his hold on the hilt of his sword, which he had been clenching ever since Aaron had stepped forward.
“Kevin. If father said it was alright, I’ll come. I know he trusts Kevin.” Casimir stood and followed him as they took, what seemed to be, an invisible path through the trees. After a while, Casimir gave up trying to figure out where they were going and simply concentrated on not losing sight of Aaron, who moved swiftly through the woods.  After about twenty minutes of walking, Aaron suddenly turned to the side and stepped into a small clearing. Following him, Casimir looked around at the small group of twenty-three men, some standing, some siting on rocks scattered throughout the clearing. 
His eyes easily spotted Kevin, who was sitting at the far side of the clearing. “Casimir, it’s good to see you, my friend,” Kevin stood as he welcomed him. “Did Aaron say why I wanted you?’
Casimir shook his head.
“It’s Eira and Willem. They were captured by Merek’s men.”
At the mention of Merek’s name, Casimir stiffened and his eyes became stormy. “Do you mean to tell me Eira is in the hands of Merek?”
Kevin nodded, “So is Willem.”
“If they’ve touched Eira I’ll--”
“You’ll what?” Despite the seriousness of their undertaking, Kevin’s eyes began to twinkle, “I had no idea there was anything between you two other than friendship.”
“There isn’t.”
“Really? Well, you didn’t seem to be in as much of a hurry to rescue Willem.”
Casimir’s glanced down, not meeting Kevin's gaze.
Kevin laughed, “It's all right, Casimir. I’m sorry I teased you. I know you care for Eira, and, yes, we are sure it was Merek who has them. Why we don’t know, but it seems that the same men who needed a doctor this afternoon are the ones who took her.
Casimir looked up as though realizing something for the first time. “It was him. The man with the dark hair was Merek.” He slammed his fist into the bark of a tree, “Why, oh why didn’t I see it sooner!”
“Probably because he looked nothing like he did when you saw him last," a new voice spoke up.
Casimir turned toward the man who had spoken. “I’m Aeden. I saw both Willem and Eira on his ship last night.”
“And you did nothing?”
“We came here, to Kevin. We knew Eira and Willem were his siblings. We knew he had been looking for Merek for quite a while.”
Casimir turned back to Kevin, “Do you know this man?”
Kevin nodded, “I do now, although he had me worried earlier. Caismir, meet Aeden, Cian and Diarmuid. Michael’s brothers.”
     “Michel? As in Anna’s husband?”
     Kevin nodded. “We can talk more about it later, but right now we don't have time. We need to go after them and we need a plan.”
                                           -----

Eira was exhausted from the long ride and it wasn’t over yet. She had resisted the urge to lean her head on Rowen’s back this long, but she knew she couldn't keep it up much longer. Her eyes grew heavy and the plodding of the horse made her want to do nothing more than fall sleep. Then, without even realizing it, she drifted off to sleep.
A sudden jerk startled her awake. She nearly fell into Henry's arms as he roughly pulled her off the horse. She winced as a sharp pain shot through her ankle at the same moment her feet hit the ground.
“Henry, I said to be careful!” Rowen dismounted and helped her to her feet, casting a withering glance at Henry when he realized she couldn't put any weight on her right ankle.
Henry only grinned at her, the ice in his eyes as cold as ever. Eira knew it hadn’t been an accident, and she also knew Henry would try his best to make these small “accidents” as frequent as possible. Better try and make sure I always stay close to Willem, Stace or Rowen. . .even Merek. Anyone’s got to be better than Henry!
Rowen helped her as she limped over to a tree stump and sat down. “Now you just stay here and I’ll send your brother over to take a look at your ankle.”
He walked away leaving Eira alone. She looked out across the clearing. It looked as though the men had been here for several months. Crude shelters had been constructed that looked more permanent than the tents that were usually set up when people traveled.
Which means they’re planning on staying here for a little while, Eira thought.
She was startled by Merek’s voice as he walked over to her, “You, girl, go and make us some soup. My men have fish and I want to have a warm, home cooked meal for once in my life.”
Eira looked at him blankly, “Uh, sir. I can’t walk. My ankle. . .” her voice trailed off and Merek’s gaze traveled down to her ankle which had already swollen to twice its normal size.
Merek swore under his breath and Eira looked at him, startled. “Haven’t you been taught not to say such things?” the words were out before she could stop them.
Merek simply stared at her and she squirmed under his gaze. She liked the yelling Merek better, when he was quiet it seemed to signal that he was extremely angry with you. . .and his eyes further confirmed the fact.
“I--don’t like--to be questioned,” his words were carefully measured and controlled. “Is that clear?”
Eira nodded.
“Now, I will help you over to the fire, and I want that soup. Have I made myself clear?” 
Once again Eira nodded, not bringing her eyes up to meet his. She felt his arm go around her as he helped her over to the fire. The fish had been cleaned, and when she glanced around to see who had done it, she caught Willem’s grin from across the fire. Of course; Willem! I certainly hope he can help me with the soup. The last time I made anything, mother proclaimed it not fit to be eaten!
As Merek left her alone, she tried to catch Willem’s eye without making it obvious. When softly calling his name didn’t make a difference, she picked up a pebble from the ground and tossed it at him. She missed and was just about to try again when a soft chuckle made her look up. Stace stood behind her, eying her in amusement.
“Would you like me to get your brother for you?” his eyes twinkled merrily down at her.
Eira’s face flushed red, “You saw all that?”
He laughed, “I did!”
“Yes, I would greatly appreciate it if you could get Willems attention for me!” she said as Willem walked into one of the huts.
He winked at her, “Wait here, I’d be happy to.” He walked over and entered the hut, reappearing a moment later with Willem.
“Do you need something, Eira?” Willem asked as he hurried over to her, Stace leaned against the side of the hut and watched them with--Eira noticed--the same twinkle in his eye. She tried to block him out as she turned to Willem. “I’m supposed to make soup and--”
“You'd rather not have Merek’s fish become ‘unfit to eat’?”
Eira nodded.
Willem grinned, “All right, I’ll help you and then I’ll take a look at your ankle. Rowen told me you needed help.”
                                         -----

“Hold still, Eira.” Willem had unlaced the leather shoe and was trying to gently pull it off  the swollen foot. Supper was over and Willem had finally found time to look at her ankle. The soup had turned out quite tasty, as Eira knew it would. Thankfully, neither Rowen nor Merek saw him helping and Stace hadn't said a thing.
“It hurts!” she exclaimed suddenly as she pulled her foot back.
He sat back and looked at her, “It'll hurt a lot worse if you don’t let me look at it.”
“And what exactly are you going to do? It’s not like there’s some special salve that will help a sprained ankle.”
Willem gave her the ‘you’d-better-do-what-I-say-and-don’t-ask-any-questions’ look. Eira groaned, but sat still as Willem continued to gently ease the shoe off. Even though Willem was usually easy going, there were times you simply didn’t cross him. Eira had learned to sense when her older brother was set on having his way--and this was one of those times.
She clenched her jaw as he took a roll of cloth and began to tightly wrap her ankle.
“How in the world did you manage to fall hard enough to cause this?” he shook his head. “Usually dismounting a horse isn’t so dangerous.”
“It wasn’t! Well, it wouldn’t have been if Henry hadn’t yanked me off. I guess I had drifted off to sleep and when we stopped he pulled me off. I landed on my foot--obviously.”
Willem paused and glanced up at her, “He pulled you off the horse? That’s not what Rowen said.”
“Well, you go right ahead and believe him if you want!” Eira snapped.  She instantly regretted it,  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
Willem, who had finished wrapping the ankle, laid back on the grass and gazed up at the stars. Neither of them spoke for a long moment.
“It’s okay. I knew you didn’t mean it,” Willem finally spoke breaking the silence.
“They’re so beautiful. So peaceful," Eira said. "When I look up at the stars at night, it makes me wonder how someone can not believe in God." 
Willem nodded. The sky seemed to be alive with twinkling lights. The moon shone bright as well, bathing the clearing in pale, warm light.
Merek and Rowen along with Henry, Stace and two other men Eira didn’t recognize sat around the fire which still blazed cheerily. The other men had retired soon after supper was over.
“I wonder--” Eira started, but was shushed by Willem.
“Listen.”
Eira strained her ears, but she could only hear snatches of the conversation.
“Kevin will come. . .he knows what we want. . .his fault. . . turned against us. . . knows where we are. . .”
Kevin again. What does he have to do with these men? Eira wondered.
Then she heard two clear sentences.  Two sentences that sent a shiver through her.
“We have his sibling now and they are the bait. Kevin will come and walk right into a trap.”
Eira turned horrified eyes toward Willem, but before she could speak Willem put a finger across her lips. “Not now,” he whispered.
Eira kept silent, but one thought kept pounding through her brain. It’s our fault. Kevin is going to get hurt and we can’t do anything to help him!

This is an average chapter in The Silent Blade. So what do you think? Would it be better to change it all to one POV? I asked a friend who has read it, and her thoughts were that if I did change it to one POV, it would be a lot of Kevin and Casimir telling Eira what happened and not the readers experiencing the action. 
So. . .what are your thoughts? Do you generally like one POV better? I'm open to any suggestions!!

4 comments:

  1. I actually recommend switching it all to Eira's POV. I am fine with a switch of POV between at the most two characters. Any more than that and you have to be very talented to pull it off. (I only do as much as two characters when I do POV switches because I'm not quite good enough to do more than that just yet.) So I think it would be best to either switch it all to Eira or perhaps just Eira and Kevin. Hope that helps! Enjoy your school! :)

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    1. Thanks, Emily. That's what I've heard from a lot of people, so I'm working on changing it to only Eira and Kevin's POV. :)

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  2. Personally I like books with more than one POV. :) Changing it to all Eira's POV may be difficult and, like someone said, would make there be more of Kevin and Casimir telling Eira what has happened, etc. I've read many books with multiple POVs but also plenty that are only from one characters POV. Sometimes (I think) it depends on the book and, of course, the writer. :) Like I said, I always enjoy books with 2 (or more) POVs. ;)
    Just my thoughts and I'm far from a good 'advice giver'. LOL:)

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    1. Thank you, Faith! Yeah, 'The Silent Blade' probably needs more then one POV, but I have heard from a lot of people that it is better to stay with, at most, two POV's. So i'm working on switching everything to Eira's and Kevin's POV :)

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