Am Watching "The Wings of a Dove"

[erastes]

And I think I know why this film never really worked, and that's because of  Linus's portrayal.  Bonham-Carter is surprisingly good, but I was never convinced by Linus. I was so blown over by the book, it's deep and nasty - more nasty than I found a lot of other James - but Roche just didn't do it for me - despite the stellar cast!

I did about 730 words today. Not really enough but words I'm more happy with than I was in the first chapter. Gah! I'm finding it so hard to return to 3rd person after a couple of years in the first person.  It seems so remote and  stodgy. I could quite happily be seduced into writing nothing else  but 1st person for the rest of my life and then - yanno? Do you believe in fate?  I had a HUGE pile of books to start on yesterday - all gay lit - and I picked out "A Single Man" by Christopher Isherwood and  - BAM - there's the learning curve. Writing in the third person but bloody hell - so well done I could weep. Not all 3rd person has to be "he woke up and..."

Comments

[rwday.livejournal.com]

Well done on the word count! Especially as you're happier with your product. I knew you'd get your stride once you spent some time with the POV, though I know what you mean about 1st person. Thaw wrote itself because I was David while I was writing it, everything else has been more or less a struggle.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thanks hun!

[markprobst.livejournal.com]

For me, I just don't understand why 1st person is so hugely popular among modern writers. I find it too limiting. It is very unlikely that I will ever use 1st person in my fictional writing.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

That's a shame, never say never. I hope you try it one day!

[batboy126.livejournal.com]

I agree with you on Linus Roache in Wings. There was a modernized version made at about the same time that you might like; it's a bit more in touch with the 'nastiness' of the story. It uses the title Under Heaven, the character names are changed, and it's set in contemporary U.S., but it's Wings Of A Dove and maintains the sense of the original story.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'll have to check that out, thanks!

[sleveen.livejournal.com]

I love writing in first-person because I get to (God forgive me!) Method-write; I become the character. This is very confusing for those around me, who never know who I am today. ;-)

But third person is HARD, and I find it's difficult to sustain the momentum...it's almost like third-person pushes you to maintain the narrative tension so there's always something driving, driving, driving it forward. Third-person novels (IMHO) always seem to be more densely-plotted, whereas first-person has a fluidity, a looseness about it...

Or, you know, I could be full of shit. LOL. ^_^

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is easier to become the character. This chap I'm writing now, I want to get into his head. But- I need to switch POVs. If it were a novel, I might have tried to do some 1st person and some 3rd person but it's a novella and I think it will be too crowded to do that.

No-one's full of shit, it's always fascinating to see other people's views.

Isherwood!!

[ermyne.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, Isherwood makes me just sit with mouth agape in wonder. The ultimate artfulness: it seems utterly effortless. But encouraging, you know - he spent his whole career writing first-person narrative and I think A Single Man was his first third-person novel. He's always rabbiting in his letters how much easier he found it to write first-person. Not that you can tell! So there's hope for us all. Must reread that. There's something about Issyvoo that fires me up to write myself. Perhaps the delusion, "See how easy it is!"

Re: Isherwood!!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

His first 3rd person? Wow. That's probably WHY it feels as deep as a first person. It's wonderful.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

It'll just take me a while to get back into it. Both Standish and Transgressions are 3rd person so I know I CAN do it, I just don't - as you say - feel the depth. It will come into its own when I switch POV, I suppose.

Thanks!