A Different Perspective

Part 1 of City of the Lords is done! Well, the first draft, anyways. On to Part 2... in which, for the first time, I approach this world from a perspective other than Kenton's. To find out why you'll need to read the book!

It's an interesting experience. I find it much easier to write using first person perspective than others (third person limited would really be my other choice here, at least in the way that I have the book planned out), but all of my writing so far has been from one specific person's view. Like any of us, Kenton has a particular perspective on the world around him that is by necessity different from that of the others around him. I'm grappling with that different tone in Part 2, but the task is made somewhat easier by the way in which this part of the story begins. It's not that it's hard, really - in fact I'm pleasantly surprised so far by how easily I slip into a writing from this alternative viewpoint and making it clear that it's not Kenton who is talking here - but it's a new experience for me and a little disconcerting. I find the protagonist thinking about people very differently than Kenton, and having to reevaluate all of the supporting characters in this new light.

How about Part 1? Well, I need to do a first sweep of revisions on it. Based on my experience from Lord of the City (as well as my first manuscript, which is still unpublished), there'll probably be some pretty sweeping changes. It comes out to a bit under 45,000 words, or slightly less than half the length of Lord of the City. It's a nicely self-contained story, but absolutely necessary to lead into parts 2 and 3 of City of the Lords. One nice thing about having the story separated out like this is that I'll be able to send out Part 1 to F&F (friends and family) for initial feedback without waiting for the whole thing to be done. That's after at least one (and maybe two) rounds of revision, of course, for everything from grammar and spelling to pacing and consistency.

If each part ends up around the same length, I'll end up with a book between 1/3 and 1/2 larger than Lord of the City, which isn't a bad thing.