Book Layout: Please Help!

MorbidMaiden

MorbidMaiden

I have recently encountered a crisis. The novel I am currently working on tells the story of three teenage girls with mental health issues. Originally, it had started straight in with their teen years, but I have now written over 60, words explaining to the reader about their childhood and the problems and issues leading up to their illnesses. Now, here is the complicated part! I have taken a key scene from each girls life and shaped it into the form of a chapter. I have done this for each girl from birth until the age of 16 when they are all admitted into the same hospital. The second part of the books tells their individual stories from a day to day/week to week basis. Although each chapter is headed with the name of the character the chapter is focused on, they communicate, unlike before, with the others. Now, does this sound too complicated for readers to enjoy or do people think this will work? To me, it is currently reading okay, but hey, I’m the writer and not the reader.

Carol

Too complicated to me MM. The idea of the three girls and different stages of their lives works, but I would say they need to be linked in some way (not just the hospital- it can be a loose connection) so that you can switch about.
Perhaps the early part of their lives will be reflected in the stuff that comes out in the time after they meet up in hospital.
I'm sure someone else can give you a better view on your question.

Katy

Sounds great MM, great stuff. As a reader, I find it spoils my enjoyment of the book if I have to keep turning back pages to remind myself of who's who (or why's why perhaps!) or if the format of the book lets me "see the strings" the writer has used, although diary formats always work well for me as a reader. Would it still work if you started the action at the point they entered the hospital and wove the back story chapters around that?

PS - I'm only saying this from a reader's point of view - I have mostly written non-fiction myself so please please don't let me put you off, that would be terrible!

MonkeyNuts

It sounds like a great idea but I do think they need to be linked. Otherwise, I think it may be a bit complicated and hard to keep up with the characters.
I'm reading a book at the moment that has the perspective of 3 characters and each chapter represents the thoughts of each of those characters. That can be a bit confusing at times but they are all linked; they are grandmother, daughter and grandchild.
Maybe you have the potential for 2 or 3 stories? Sounds like you're over-flowing with excellent ideas!

Tessa Tangent

I can imagine you have experienced people like this.  As I have, too.  However, with a stretch of the imagination, they can be: firstly, drawn in by one related link; second, by familial relationships; third, as friends. 

Complete strangers need some bond, just something that will have drawn them all together, be it work, music, art, gymkhanas, driving with Formula 1, it doesn't matter. 

It's for you to decide.

josiehenley

If you want to see a book with multiple POVs, try Porno by Irvine Welsh, it’s the sequel to Trainspotting, but I haven’t read Trainspotting so couldn’t tell you if that was written in the same format. There are several narrators, I think I counted five or six in all, and some are introduced fairly late in the book. But it really worked for me as a reader. There was no problem in working out who was who, mainly because each chapter had the narrator’s name as a heading (handy that!). Also, each chapter was a different narrator (rather than chopping and changing within chapters) and their voices were very different.

Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith is a fine example of dual-narration, and the two characters go through the same events but you see them through very different eyes. It’s amazing, and I love the book. Good on the second read too.

I think your idea of the hospital would work well, if you have the characters interacting, however briefly. How they see each other, and their different perspectives on the events going on around them. I would also say from a reader’s perspective that it would be good to have some sort of prologue or the first chapter with all three of them being in the hospital, and then go back to their backstories for a few chapters, demonstrating their similarities and differences and any discrepancies between what they say about themselves and what actually happened to lead up to their stay in the hospital. This would make it much more powerful for me rather than leading in with several chapters of dislocated events before getting to the point where they connect.

Carol

That's a good idea josie, it could do all that's wanted and still be readable.
It's your book MM, see what works for you.

moira

HI MM,
Sounds like a great idea, I would prefer it to start off with the girls meeting or thinking about each other in the hospital, perhaps gradually getting to know/loathe/love each other and let their stories slowly unfold throughout the book, letting secrets slip out as and when the individuals think about them or tell anyone else their history. Is the main story about the past or is there a greater event still to come? I don't agree that there needs to be a link or bond between them, complete strangers getting to know each other is just as or more appealing than existing relationships.

MorbidMaiden

Wow! Thank you everyone with the FANTASTIC responses. I feel so much more secure now. (:

josiehenley

Glad you’re more secure since the feedback MM. At the end of the day it’s your book, as Carol says. You decide what to do, and you should be aware that all of these formats have been tried and all can succeed and all can fail depending on the writer. I think it’s how you do it that makes the difference. Your style should make it clear who the narrator is (I tried dual-narration for a novel and found some readers confused because the voices were too similar). There should be clear indications for when the time changes, and the narrator changes. It’s fine to have a prologue in the ‘now’ and then go back years to the beginning, I’ve seen this loads of times. In fact, if you see a prologue it is unlikely that it’s going to be in the same timeframe/location as the main text. It’ll either be future or way in the past, or a seemingly unrelated event and will become clear later on. I agree that you don’t necessarily need a connection between the three other than that they are all young women in the same institution. Did you ever see ‘Girl Interrupted’ with Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie? Fab film.

MorbidMaiden

Yes! One of the best films I have ever seen as a matter of fact! Thank you for the brilliant suggestions. I'm going to tackle it this morning, (the layout). I have over one hundred thousand words to play with so I'm slightly scared!

Jay Mandal

Just remember to keep/save your original version. Call the two versions by different, obvious names (I suppose the computer will make you do this anyway) that you can remember. Maybe put a date on them both.

Jay Mandal

'Girl, Interrupted' is on Channel 4 today at 11:50pm.

MorbidMaiden

I have finally decided how to do this. I am begining with the girls being admitted into hospital and then use flashbacks. I can predict many tears, tantrums and traumas to come and a possible house re-location because my family will be driven to insanity, (yes, again) but I am thinking of it as a long, very long adventure. Wish me luck!

MorbidMaiden

Once again a MASSSIVE THANKS and cheers Jay, I'll try and catch it. It is a film you can watch over and over.