Flawed Creation
I added a frame story to my book. i had been playing around with the point of view. i started writing in third person limited, hopping between the minds of many different chararcters between scenes.
then, i started using first person for the "villain"'s part of the book, to draw readers into it's world, and make the reader more sympathetic.
yesterday i moved the end of the story to the beginning. it starts with the victorious king giving a speech, decrying the rebels (who are the protagonists, although the king is a good guy too. almost everyone is good on both sides in my book.)
the last surviving rebel, Kiira, (who has been reconciled to the king), challengs is description, and tries to sway the crowd to believe the rebels weren't so bad. to that end she tells them her story...
that's the frame, which i chose for several reasons. it adds tensionto the opening, clearly outlines the theme (moral ambiguity) and what the book is about (rebellion).
the problem is, the book isn't Kiira's story. the protagonist, the central character, is dead, so can't present his viewpoint. is it necessary to use first person, and limit the story to what Kiira would know? is it possible, after "flashing back", to have a third person narrator describe other scenes? can i use other first persons?
i wouldn't mind presenting the other viewpoints from within the frame, but by the end of the story, 2 are mostly dead and 3 are all dead.
help?
then, i started using first person for the "villain"'s part of the book, to draw readers into it's world, and make the reader more sympathetic.
yesterday i moved the end of the story to the beginning. it starts with the victorious king giving a speech, decrying the rebels (who are the protagonists, although the king is a good guy too. almost everyone is good on both sides in my book.)
the last surviving rebel, Kiira, (who has been reconciled to the king), challengs is description, and tries to sway the crowd to believe the rebels weren't so bad. to that end she tells them her story...
that's the frame, which i chose for several reasons. it adds tensionto the opening, clearly outlines the theme (moral ambiguity) and what the book is about (rebellion).
the problem is, the book isn't Kiira's story. the protagonist, the central character, is dead, so can't present his viewpoint. is it necessary to use first person, and limit the story to what Kiira would know? is it possible, after "flashing back", to have a third person narrator describe other scenes? can i use other first persons?
i wouldn't mind presenting the other viewpoints from within the frame, but by the end of the story, 2 are mostly dead and 3 are all dead.
help?