Hot Seat Coaching: Choosing to Write Big with Andrew Parella

Producer Andrew Parrella Claims His Own Gothic World

In this follow-up session, Jennie Nash checks in with producer-turned-novelist Andrew Parrella, who returns to the “hot seat” with a major breakthrough. After a week of “staring at the screen and walking the dog,” Andrew realizes he has been “writing small” to keep the project manageable. By leaning too heavily on the existing framework of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, he was inadvertently stifling his own creativity. He decides to “embrace the big,” shifting the story from a cautious tribute into a standalone Historical Gothic Mystery. This evolution includes a high-stakes world-building choice: making vampires a known, though unaccepted, part of the public consciousness in 1920s London, adding a layer of modern resonance and social tension to the atmosphere of dread.

The duo also digs into the “glaring holes” that surface when a writer decides to expand their narrative scope. Andrew identifies a need for deeper research into the Suffragette movement to ensure his protagonist’s familial history feels integrated rather than “tacked on.” By connecting the mystery of the protagonist’s mother to historical activism, Andrew finds a way to ground the supernatural elements in a more 3D reality. As they grapple with the structural puzzle of Point of View—weighing the benefits of including voices from the past versus staying close to the present—Jennie challenges Andrew to choose the perspective that best amplifies the protagonist’s transformation and the secrets hidden within a mysterious Gladstone bag.

Visit Andrew on the web: https://www.andrewparrella.com

Listen to the first session with Andrew:

#AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Transcript

Jennie: [00:00:00] Hi, I’m Jennie Nash and you’re listening to the hashtag am Writing podcast, the place where we help writers of all kinds play big in your writing life, love the process, and stick with it long enough to finish what matters most. This is a hot seat coaching episode where we work through a real writing challenge in real time.

Today I’m talking again with Andrew Perella, the hashtag am writing podcast producer who stepped out from behind the mic to work on his novel. He completed our winter blueprint challenge and is now working on blueprint revisions, which is such an important stage in the writing process, digging into what you really want the book to be, what you really wanna say.

And Andrew’s told me he just had a revelation, which I’m dying to hear about. But um, before we get to that. Um, when we’re talking here today, the first episode where we did hot seat coaching launched out into the world, and I wanted to ask how [00:01:00] you’re feeling about that.

Andrew: Um, it feels a little weird. Um, you know, I’m used to being behind the mic.

I’m used to, um, helping obviously produce a lot of audio over the years and, and, and helped get a lot of podcast episodes out into the world. It’s strange to. Kind of be featured in a podcast episode. Um, that is a new experience for me. Um, uh, you know, when we recorded it, it was just you and I talking, but now it’s like out in the world and, uh, and, and people can listen, um, and, uh, and, and, and judge, um, which of course they’re welcome to do.

Uh, but uh, but yeah, so it’s a little, it’s a little weird, but it’s fun. It’s fun.

Jennie: Yeah, that’s, that’s you, you hit the nail on the head, the, the judge part. As soon as you put anything into the world, you put yourself up for judgment. And what we’re doing here in these sessions is, is really, in some ways so intimate because we’re getting to watch [00:02:00] somebody’s thinking as it’s unfolding, as it’s progressing before they know what they want it to be.

And we’re watching someone hopefully, um. You know, hone in on their, their voice, their story, their point, their whole thing. And it’s, um, it’s really special to get to see it unfold, I think. Um, so thank you for. Putting yourself out there.

Andrew: I’m, I’m happy to do it. This is, this has been a really value, this is a really valuable exercise for me personally.

So, uh, happy to, happy to share that with folks.

Jennie: So what happened last time was you left with some, uh, homework, which you did. Mm-hmm. And what was interesting from my point of view was when I. Looked at what you did. My first thought was, well, he didn’t do very much. And I, I sort of thought, uh, okay, that’s funny.

Andrew: I kind of felt the same way.

Jennie: Oh, that’s really funny. But then when I read it, it was like, oh no, you worked out a [00:03:00] lot of things that we had been circling around. And primarily the, um, I would say the. Personal familial history of abriana and her connection to this famous vampire hunter. So that all got really sorted.

Um, but the, the one that really made me chuckle was you have this beautiful description of your ideal reader in the blueprint, and it, it’s probably. I don’t know, it might be 500 words. It’s, it’s like, you know, this ideal reader really well, and I can tell that you actually really love this ideal reader and want to I do, I do.

Yeah. It’s really sort of beautiful, um, the specificity of, of who she is, but you added like three lines to the end of that. That was part of what you, what you did. And, um, [00:04:00] one of those lines was. In response to something we talked about, which was, does your ideal reader, are they familiar with Dracula? And you said, now, no.

So that was really interesting to me. Do you wanna talk a little bit how you landed on that? Because I, I do think it might impact the genre.

Andrew: Uh, yeah, I agree. And I, I saw your note about the genre too, which, which, um, I’m, I’d be eager to talk more about, but yeah, I mean, as, as I was thinking about this, I say I feel like I didn’t do much.

I spend a lot of time staring at the screen, uh, over the last couple of weeks and like. Walking my dog and thinking about these questions that you were posing. I feel like I spent hours doing it and like it, like, and, and like the words on the page since we last spoke, don’t, I don’t know, have reflect like the number of, the number of new words on the page.

Don’t reflect that. But I spent, I spent a lot of time thinking about, about that question and [00:05:00] some of the other questions that, that you posed. And I think for a long time I wanted to presume a familiarity with Stoker’s Dracula, um, because it made my job easier. And, and so I think I, I kind of had to come to terms with the fact that though it is a popular book, not everybody has read it.

And while many people, because it’s a popular book, many people have some. Passing knowledge about the structure, about the plot, about some of the characters maybe, but they won’t know. They won’t know the level of detail that I do having read it many times. And so I need to create, I need to expand the world.

I need to create my own world. I can’t just live in Stoker’s world. I need to create my own world. These characters, while they have the same names as the characters in in Stoker’s novel. They are, they become different characters in my world, the [00:06:00] world I’m creating. And so I need to, I need to kind of accept that.

And so it doesn’t matter if you’ve read Dracula before you pick up this book, and these, these characters have a rich backstory that I will allude to. And if you’ve read Dracula, you might pick up on some extra, some extra bits, but this is still going to be a cohesive, discreet novel that you’ll be able to enjoy.

Regardless of, uh, whether you’ve read the, the, the original or not.

Jennie: Okay. That’s huge. Is that the revelation or is there something else?

Andrew: No, that is not

Jennie: the

Andrew: revelation.

Jennie: Okay. So we’ll get, wow, okay. We’ll get to that in a minute. But that, the reason I said it impacts the genre is that you said your ideal right reader wouldn’t describe herself as a horror fan and that her.

Most, she’s, she loves this, um, period of time. She loves London. Um, you know, there’s a lot of things that [00:07:00] connect her to this story, but not horror. And so my thought was, should, should it still be classified as horror? Uh, there are lots of other ways to classify it, you know, historic, um, a historic thriller, a historic mystery.

You know, gothic could be in there, but what, what are your thoughts at this point about that?

Andrew: Yeah, and I, I, I think we’ve, we’ve, we’ve used the term horror when we talk about it, but when I, when I, when I did the blueprint challenge, I think I did kind of identify more like historical gothic as the genre.

And, and, and as, as you say in one of your notes, this is feeling more like a mystery, a murder mystery than it is horror. Like, I feel like the horror genre leans into the gore, and I don’t know that that’s where. My book lives, I think, I think the gothic kind of sense of imminent doom, pervading, you know, every page is definitely something I wanna lead into.

So, so I think gothic is, is [00:08:00] relevant, historic, gothic, and ultimately it is a murder mystery. And so who, and so, and so solving that mystery is the protagonist’s kind of ultimate mission.

Jennie: Right. So the, the sort of moodiness of the world and, and something, yeah. The dread, uh, that’s out there. Right. Um, which fits really nicely, uh, with what you’re doing.

Okay. So what’s the revelation?

Andrew: So it came from the question that you asked me last or two weeks ago now. Um, and one that I’ve been asking myself, which is. Are vampires part of the public consciousness in this world that I’m building. And for a long time I’ve been saying, no, no, no, no. They’re not part, they’re still, they’re still a secret society.

They’re still a secret community. They’re still a secret species. They’re, they’re, and nobody knows about them. And, and anyone who talks about vampires is seen as being a [00:09:00] lunatic. Um. And I was realizing, and, and as you probably saw in the, in, in the, in the document, I was, I, I was trying to explore both, both possibilities.

There’s a possibility where, where the public understands vampire exists and then there’s a, a, a possibility where that it doesn’t, where they don’t understand they exist. And I’ve been leaning towards maintaining the secrecy of vampires among the public. And I think the reason I’ve been doing that, it ties back, ties into what we were just talking about in that I was, I saw that creating like a whole vampire society that, uh, that human, that human society has been interacting with for a number of years, it felt like a distraction from the primary.

From the primary plot, but I’ve been struggling because it does offer some really nice motivation for my murderer.

Jennie: Yeah. [00:10:00]

Andrew: So

Jennie: you’ve been flip flopping back and forth in your mind.

Andrew: I’ve been flip flopping back and forth in my mind until last night. And I was, I was reading, I was reading some of your comments, uh, on my document and I was like, why am I stuck on this?

Why am I hung up on this? Why can’t I make a decision about this? Um, and it’s because. I was writing small, I was trying to keep it, you know, this is something I could manage. Like I was trying to keep it, I was trying to keep it like manageable. I was trying to keep it, I, I don’t know. I was trying to give my, I was trying to like pen myself in, I guess, and lean.

More heavily on the work of Stoker. And it’s like he’s already done his work. He’s already So the, so the, the, the, the revelation I said he’s already done his work. He’s already created his book. Mine is a different book. Mine is, is, uh, a different [00:11:00] world and like. As we have been saying, I need to write big, so I need to embrace the big.

And so that gonna, that’s gonna mean creating more characters. That’s going to mean creating, uh, more exposition. That’s going to mean creating, um, more interactions between these communities. Creating a lot more than I had initially been thinking about. I feel like my original idea was a nice idea. You know, I’m, and I’m using air quotes with a nice idea, but like, I feel like this is now.

Becoming a novel by, by choosing to, by choosing to go big here.

Jennie: Well, you’re, you make me like actually wanna cry because of happiness, because you’ve obviously been listening to the right. Big episodes and Yes. That whole um, thing and winter blueprint, um, listening to me hammer away at. Uh, [00:12:00] that this is all we have.

This is all a writer has, is what is in their heart and mind mm-hmm. And comes from their experiences and interests. And it is so crazy how we shy away from that. We tamp it down, we hide from it, all the things because it’s, it’s terrifying in many ways. And for you to just get that and in both. The conversations we’ve had this morning already, like, like the, um, you were afraid.

Yeah. Afraid of your own creation, which is actually very sort of, I guess that’s more, um, well, more Frankenstein, more Frankenstein than Dracula, but, but you know, it is like the monster of our own creation. Mm-hmm. You know, like, oh, I wanna write this book. There’s a kind of dread in just even saying that.

Yeah. And then, oh, I [00:13:00] wanna write this book and

Right.

Jennie: And that question of am I up to it? Am I capable of, it lies at the heart of. So many problems that we make for ourselves because, you know, we tell ourselves, no, I couldn’t do that or that Yeah, that’s too, I just, I, you know, that’s for somebody else, or I, I’ll keep it small, I’ll keep it mm-hmm.

Attached to this other, I’ll keep it easy. That was what mm-hmm. You know, and, and what you’re saying is, okay, now I’m gonna. I’m gonna write the book I wanna write.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jennie: Oh man, that’s so big. So that,

Andrew: yeah, that was my, that was my big revelation last night as I was, ‘cause I still didn’t have an answer for you on that question as late as last night.

And I was like, I don’t know what to say. And then I was like, why is this heart so hard for me? And so that was, that was, that was really nice to kind of make that, find that understanding and that gave me peace and like. I started, I started just throwing words on the page [00:14:00] last night about what that meant.

Um, what that will mean for the story, what that will mean for the, for the characters. So,

Jennie: well, I’m gonna write down this question ‘cause I wanna, I wanna explore that more. Why is this so hard for me? That’s such a good question because what I was doing last night after I wrote that note to you was I did a whole pro con thing.

You know, pro, um, the vampires are here and present and known, or, you know, be, they’re not like, you know? Mm-hmm. Or even c nobody knows if they’re real or, you know, like I was trying to parse out what do I have to do to guide Andrew toward. A decision. So I was thinking more what’s gonna prompt your brain to decide, and your question, why is this so hard for [00:15:00] me is really what the right question is instead of the pro con list.

So that is brilliant. Um, I’m, I’m writing down so good. Um.

Andrew: Well, thank you for pushing me.

Jennie: Oh, well that’s my job. So, um, it’s fun. I mean, it’s fun. And what’s interesting, particularly with this project is as we know, I don’t know Dracula, I don’t read a lot of horror. And so I’m, I am, I am reacting to you more than this story, you know?

So that was, that was why, how am I gonna get Andrew to. Figure this out. I have absolutely no, you know, opinion or, or you know, um, any reason why we choose one or the other. Uh, sure. You know, it’s really what you want. So once you decide that, then does that help with. Other open questions? [00:16:00] Does it sort of have a domino effect in your mind on some of the other things?

Andrew: I think it, yeah, it, yeah, I think it’s gonna affect, I mean, it’s gonna affect, so it’s gonna affect the whole tenor of the book. Um, I think it, it’s, it’s going to change the motivations of so many other characters. It’s going to change. The relationship between, um, uh, between all of the characters. Um, it’s going to change the politics of the moment inside this world.

Um, and it’s going to kind of raise the stakes, uh, a little bit more. And I think in, in, in another way, it’s going to make it resonate more with a modern audience. Um,

Jennie: Ooh. Say more. Why do you think that?

Andrew: Well, I think, uh, I think. Just because the vampires are no longer a secret, uh, society, just because they are, um, part of the public zeitgeist, that doesn’t mean they are accepted by the public.

Um, and so there’s going to be [00:17:00] misunderstanding and fear, um, and uh, and violence all around this, uh, group of individuals, which I think. Again, as I, as I said, resonates with, with, with modern, with a modern audience.

Jennie: Wow. That’s, that’s awesome. Um, so I’m also curious, one of the questions I had, you did some work around a Brianna’s mother who

mm-hmm.

Jennie: Died in childbirth, giving birth to her. Mm-hmm. And, um. She was involved in this whole previous generation’s relationship to the vampire hunting and

mm-hmm.

Jennie: Um, all of that. And it, it’s been a little vague. Um, we’ve talked about it a little, but it sounds like that is becoming more of a connection for, for two things, both for a [00:18:00] Adrianna’s motivation, um.

To, to solve these murders, but also her connection to the suffragette movement, which prior to this draft, I kept feeling a little bit like it was shoehorned in there, like

mm-hmm.

Jennie: Oh, there’s this vampire story and it’s London and it’s at this time, and there’s this young woman in suffragette. You know, and, and now that small change really locks the, the suffragette movement into Aub Brianna’s world and life.

Um, so what do you now know about the mother that feels new or, um, that you’ve pinned down more because of these thoughts?

Andrew: I’m still fleshing that out. But let me, let me say, one of the reasons I think that the suffragette movement element of the book feels a little tacked on is I have not [00:19:00] yet done my research there.

And so it’s like, that’s a really, that’s a, that’s a glaring, that’s a glaring hole right now that I need to fill with more research. I’ve been doing a lot of vampire research now. Um, and, but I need to switch. I need to switch tax and start and start doing more, uh, suffrage, uh, research. Um, but that said, yeah, I think.

A Brianna’s mother, Mina, um, was involved briefly in the suffrage movement because she dies or does she? And um, and, and I think she continues, she continues to play a role in the suffrage suffrage movement. What. What I’ve been grappling with now is how much of that does abriana know how much of that has her father told her?

And I could see that being another point of contention between the two of them. If she discovers later that this was [00:20:00] another, another piece of information that was, that was hidden from her. And so,

Jennie: Ooh, that’s so good. It’s so good. This, this young, yeah, this young woman. All these things stacked up against her that she, yeah.

Sort of knows about or maybe suspects. Um, right. So you’re right. The work is, there’s always in any story who, the question of who knows what, when. Mm-hmm. I mean, particularly in a mystery or thriller, obviously.

Andrew: Right.

Jennie: Yeah. But who knows what, when, you know, can. Change who you choose to be your narrator. Who, who has right point of view, um, who gets point of view in the story.

Uh, you know, do we go to a chapter in somebody’s point of view? You know, all of those, all of those questions hang on. This idea of who knows what went. So, you as the author, are the first person that has to know. Everything. Right. And [00:21:00] then choose to, you know, how like, like putting little breadcrumbs or, you know, planting little seeds, um

mm-hmm.

Jennie: That you have to manage that material. Um, so that’s a big question. And here’s a question. Do you think you need those answers before you can pin the whole story down, or do you feel like. You can pin the plot down and that that is, gives more texture, more, more to a Adriana’s motivation. Maybe it’ll move certain scenes about her discovery of certain things, but do you, what do you feel about that research?

Andrew: About the suffrage research they need

Jennie: to do? Yeah, yeah,

Andrew: yeah. I think it’s going to get, I think it’s gonna open avenues for me. To identify what Mina’s role was, what her mother, what, what breanna’s mother’s role was in the suffrage suffragette movement. [00:22:00] Who some of the players were, who some of the, some of the larger names, the, some of the larger, um, protesters and advocates for it were.

Because the, you know, being a historical novel, I do want to incorporate some historical figures, which I, I think, um, is always a kind of a fun element of, of, of a novel. And so being able to incorporate some of that, I think will lay out a lot of avenues for a Brianna’s story arc.

Jennie: So I just wanna point out for our listeners that what is happening here, um, is that every question we ask or we pose.

Is work, right? So some of it is, you know, work of walking the dog and thinking and saying, well, I don’t know. Or Why don’t I now? Or why is this hard for me? Or, uh, or, you know, all of that. And then now we’re talking about. This question is work, um, figuring out research and, you know, at every turn it’s, [00:23:00] when you do the thing that you wanna do, when you really lean into that, it, it gets harder.

I mean, you’re making it harder for yourself. So,

yeah,

Jennie: I just wanna point that out. ‘cause it, it’s so interesting here as this is unfolding, um, that, that, that is just a, a truth. And the other thing I wanna point out is. Where this story started is where every story starts, which is you have this idea, it’s a really cool idea.

You have this sense of a plot. And, and in some ways, that very central idea of the plot is never gonna change. No matter what you do to this book, it’s, it’s a, mm-hmm. It’s a murder, you know, there’s murders and this young woman’s gonna solve it, so. Mm-hmm. Like, that plot’s not changing, but the, where it started was.

These kind of card work cutout characters, kind of placeholder characters. And if you leave it at that, you can see where that would go, you know? Mm-hmm. It’s like, [00:24:00] oh, mother died in childbirth. Of course child’s motivated to, you know, something. Um, or Oh, distant and emotional dad, you know, you sort of start, start there.

But now by understanding. The whole life that her mother lived and the whole role that she played, and is she even dead or not? You know, like huge, huge questions. Yeah. Make the mother a fully fleshed out 3D character. You know, that’s where you’re gonna go. And then you can see how that will make a Brianna.

A more fully fleshed out 3D character. So instead of, instead of the tropes or the expected things, there’s gonna be these nuances to it and

mm-hmm.

Jennie: Um, specific things. And then your question of what, how much does she know and, and what does she find out? [00:25:00] Um, there’s gonna be plot points that come from that.

Right. You know? Uh, do you have a sense. At this point, are there letters, are there diaries? Is there a friend who hasn’t spoken? Like is there some source of information in your mind that Abriana might encounter?

Andrew: Yes. And I think, and, and I think there are a couple of different sources. I think, I think her mother Mina will have had diaries, um, and potentially letters.

I think also Van Helsing will also certainly have papers. Um. And letters. Um, and, uh, there’s a, there’s a, there’s a prop. He, when he dies, he bequeaths to abriana his Gladstone bag. Um, and I think there’s going to be some sort of revelatory piece of information in the Gladstone bag, and I haven’t figured [00:26:00] out what that piece of information is.

So,

Jennie: is that black bag that doctors had

Andrew: that doctors carry around? Yeah. That the old time, that old, that old timey doctors carry?

Jennie: Yeah. Why was it ca called that?

Andrew: You know, that’s a good, that’s a good question. I don’t know where, uh, what the etymology for, for, for the Gladstone bag is. I don’t know why that is.

Jennie: Interesting. So that’s like a toolbox basically. Yeah. It’s filled, filled with things and,

Outro: yeah. Yeah.

Jennie: Uh, that’s cool. That’s cool. Um, that, I love that. So this is a silly thing. I was so confused. And I know you told me this, um, but that there’s a character, John Seward, who’s a character from Dracula. Mm-hmm.

And Abriana refers to him as her uncle, but he’s not her uncle. Correct. But the reason I continue to be confused is that her dad’s name is also John

Andrew: Jonathan. Yeah.

Jennie: Jonathan.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jennie: Does it have to [00:27:00] be or is that just like, oh, Jennie, come on. Surely the reader can handle a John and a Jonathan.

Andrew: Well, I mean, no, that’s a legitimate question because, um, can they, um, especially if we’ve got two characters named Abraham and Abriana, right?

And so like, and so now I, I, I’ve been struggling with that too. I think I’ve been, I’ve been trying to carry forward some of, some of the characters from Dracula. I think I like the character of Seward because he is a protege of Van Helsing, but perhaps the protege bit is important and not the actual name of the person.

So maybe it’s another character that I’ve, that I’m introducing here who was a protege of Van Helsing.

Jennie: Oh. But see, I think that’s where you get into. So your ideal reader you’ve established may not know Dracula right. Inside and out. Right. But you will have a lot [00:28:00] of readers who do.

Yes.

Jennie: And there is a world of people who really love this stuff and who really.

Right. You know, and if you were to change an actual character

mm-hmm.

Jennie: And give it, give him a different name or a different whatever, people will come after you.

Yeah. People will be obsessed.

Jennie: And that’s fine. Right. But

yeah.

Jennie: Is, is that one of the things that could be in the book that those readers. That would delight those readers.

Andrew: Right. I like, I feel like there are a lot of ways I can leave Easter eggs for Dracula fans.

Jennie: Yeah.

Andrew: Um, that aren’t, that aren’t germane to understanding the plot of the motivations of the characters, but that, like a Dracula fan will appreciate, oh, I see what you did there. That was a nice touch. Um,

Jennie: and so

Andrew: I,

Jennie: oh, I think they, they’re gonna love that and

Andrew: Yeah.

Yeah.

Jennie: You know, there’s also then. This is just where my brain goes in terms of marketing. There’s also then a whole [00:29:00] thing of, you know, a connection to a literary, uh, to literature readers, which could potentially be students and scholars and, you know, that sort of thing. Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah.

Jennie: So I don’t, I don’t think you should so quickly dismiss.

John Stewart, but it’s a Adrianna’s father being named Jonathan, I was wondering about.

Andrew: Mm-hmm. Okay.

Jennie: And, and you do not have to care that Jennie can’t keep him straight. Uh, I’m, I’m 62. My brain doesn’t work the same way it used to, but I can’t tell you the number of times. I’m like, wait. Was that like I was

Andrew: right.

Jennie: Really snagging on that. So, um, just a point of information.

Andrew: Gotcha, gotcha. No, it’s worth thinking about though. It’s worth thinking about. But I, I had a, I had a question for you.

Jennie: Yeah.

Andrew: If now is an appropriate time to ask it.

Jennie: Ask it. [00:30:00] Yeah.

Andrew: I’ve been, I’ve been spending a lot of brain power on the question of POV.

Jennie: Yeah,

Andrew: and I’ve been go like, and going back and forth about whether this is going to be a single POV, uh, and Abriana is, Abriana is our narrator, or if it’s more third person omniscient, or maybe this is a dual POV. And I think most recently I’ve been thinking this is a dual POV between Abriana and her namesake Van Helsing, and like.

Which is also create some time traveling, uh, mechanisms because we’ll be, we’ll be talk, he’ll be talking about his experiences, uh, before Abriana was born and as she, as she’s a child, and she’ll be talking about her experiences as a young woman. And so, but now as we’re talking about a Adrianna’s mother, I’m more, I’m wondering like, do I want the dual POV to between, between Abriana and her mother?

Um. What question should I [00:31:00] be considering to help me make that decision?

Jennie: Uh, well this is a huge question, Andrew. Um, there, I feel like you just named so many excellent structural ways forward, right? And the question of what do you ask yourself? You’re asking such good questions, like what do you ask yourself to make that decision?

And. I’m gonna, my answer’s gonna be something really unsatisfying in many ways because it’s, you gotta go back to your why, why are you writing the story? Mm-hmm. Okay. Why does it matter to you? Mm-hmm. What is your point? Who do you, who do you want to speak to? Uh, those fundamental questions are going to inform the POV because if you, well, I know you originally had an idea about the brother.

Um, her brother being a narrator, and you didn’t mention him this time, you mentioned No, [00:32:00] the mom. So a story in which the mom and daughter are narrating and the mom and they’re never going to meet.

Mm-hmm.

Jennie: Those two people in, I don’t think, well, no, that’s not true. Uh, uh, an unden person could meet a, a human walking the earth, um, right.

Andrew: And that may be, that may be part of the climax.

Jennie: Yeah. So

Andrew: of the novel. But

Jennie: that, um, that a mother daughter who, who don’t think that they can, maybe the daughter doesn’t think that they will ever meet, you know, that’s a real particular. Kind of a story. Mm-hmm. So I do think, going back to your why, why do I care about this?

Why, you know, I, I asked you in our, our initial conversation, you know, you’re, you’re a man. You’re writing about [00:33:00] suffragettes, you’re writing about a woman protagonist, a young woman, protagonist, and you talked a lot about your sister.

Mm-hmm.

Jennie: Understanding those motivations and interests and passions because that mother-daughter story will carry a certain kind of weight.

The, if we think of the, the Van Haling being a narrator, that taps into what we were talking about before. How connected is your story to that lineage of

right,

Jennie: of that one. ‘cause now you’re. Not only having Bram Stoker’s character, you’re giving that character a POV voice. Mm-hmm. Which is another level of connection to that mm-hmm.

Literary lineage. Mm-hmm. Um, so that would take it in a different, you can see how that would take it in a really different direction. So POV is, [00:34:00] you know, in some stories it’s quite. Instant. Um, you just sort of know, um, in other stories it’s not, and this one, it, it is not. Um mm-hmm. I think it’s, it’s clear Abriana is your protagonist.

It’s her our core following. Mm-hmm. It’s her. Transformation. We’re interested in her, uh, solving the murder, her understanding her legacy, her coming into her own power. Those are the things we want to see resolved. Um, so whether or not she is a POV though, because there’s a, then there’s, there’s third person.

Mm-hmm. I mean, third person has different, you know, there’s different permutations of it. There’s third person close mm-hmm. Which is sort of functions in some ways, like first person, because in third person close, you don’t go into anybody else’s head. Mm-hmm. Um, I, I sometimes don’t understand why, [00:35:00] why that is even a choice.

Then I read books that do it, that work beautifully, and it’s like, oh, okay. You know? So, uh, you know, everything can be a choice, but, um, you know, so we know that she’s at the center. So then the question I’m circling around to answering your question, how do you help yourself solve this? What other voices would amplify?

Mm-hmm.

Jennie: Her transformation, that’s really what it is, is it’s her story. You know, the, the mother, POV would take it in one direction. Van Helsing would take it in a different mm-hmm. Uh, third person where we’re,

I don’t know, a third person narrator that goes back in time feels odd to me.

Andrew: Okay.

Jennie: I think if it’s, and I’m just talking out loud here. I think if it’s third person, it, it, we could go into all the heads of everybody. Walking the earth [00:36:00] right now. But I feel like if you go into someone you can see I’m betraying my not understanding Vampire vampires very well.

They never die, right?

Andrew: Yes. They’re undead.

Jennie: They never die. So. Okay, so I think, ignore what I just said, A third person, omniscient narrator, could go into their heads as well. Um, right. And go back in time as well. But your time travel, like, like actually having that, that’s a really different story, so.

Mm-hmm.

Jennie: Um, how you’re going to answer is you’re gonna sit with that question of what is gonna make a adrianna’s story resonate the most at that end, right? What, mm-hmm. What knowing is going to, to amplify that the most. And then the second thing to ask yourself, and you might need to do a little more work, uh, in order to answer [00:37:00] this once you get the inside outline done.

Looking at the key scenes. Yeah, you may just see, oh, there is no way that this is gonna work in a certain POV, or I have to have this other POVI can’t convey. I can’t go to that scene. I have to go to that scene. Or alternatively a scene that you can’t go to. Then you think, alright, how will I get this?

Into How do I convey this? I’m thinking of that. Um. You know, there’s so many, uh, there’s so many, uh, what’s the word I’m looking for? I’m thinking of JK Rowling and Harry Potter and all the things that she did, you know, the mirror Yeah. That shows Harry or his parents and the pen sea that, you know, gets the memories outta somebody’s head.

Like all these, um mm-hmm. Mechanical ways Yeah. Of show, showing us what happened.

Yeah. [00:38:00]

Jennie: Back, back in the day. You know, that’s a particularly kind of story with particularly kind of magic. But there, there, you don’t know. You might have this, they’re devices.

Yeah,

Jennie: that’s the word I was looking for. Devices, yes.

That you might have one or two scenes, it’s like, do I need a whole POV just to convey these scenes or is there another way I could get this information in? So it’s two parts, it’s both. Um, I would say heart a heart. A heart-centered thing. What, what do I want? What will amplify my why and my point the most?

What, what I think would be interesting and fun to write the question of, um, then Helsing, do I want to embrace that? Mm-hmm. For some reason I’m thinking of that, um, novel, um, the Hillary Clinton alternative history novel. Um. Called Rodham, uh oh, by, [00:39:00] is it Curtis Sittenfeld, I think. Um, Rodham, but so courageous and daring.

She, yeah, she imagines, um, what would have happened had, had Hillary not married Bill, and it follows the, their lives and their meeting and their love story and all this whole thing, which he just chooses not to marry him. And, you know, like. That’s a certain kind of bravery as an author to, to take that sort of a character.

And you’d be, you’d be doing that. So do you, do I wanna do that? So it’s all those hard questions and then there’s plot questions, so Right. I’m gonna say that for the next, your next bit of homework. Mm-hmm. Um. Is to, I would go to the inside outline and start trying to pin this plot down and noodling around with it.

And we know that it’s going to change based on your research. Mm-hmm. Based on the fact that it always changes. [00:40:00] Um, but just noodle around with it and try it from different POVs. See, see what happens. You know? Take, take the, um, this is the reason, by the way, listeners, why I insist that the insight outline at the beginning is only three pages because Andrew can do one that is a Briana’s, POV only.

What does that look like? Uh, AA and her mom, what does that look like? Abriana and um. Van health sink, what does that look like? Uh, third person, what does that look like? You could do four, three page outlines and it’s not gonna kill you. Right. Right. You could just to sort of get a feel for it, and I promise you mm-hmm.

That what’s gonna happen is one of ‘em is gonna feel more alive.

Andrew: Right.

Jennie: So that’s the sort

Andrew: of, okay,

Jennie: unsatisfying [00:41:00] answer is one of them is gonna feel more alive. So you’re gonna start with your why. Start with your point. Try to sit with that, then try those things on. One of them’s gonna feel more alive.

Okay.

Andrew: So you’re not just gonna tell me which POVs to use then?

Jennie: No, it’s

Andrew: not. That’s not how this

Jennie: works. I know, it’s such a bummer. Um. I mean, it’s such a, such an important question and people often skim past it, but

Andrew: mm-hmm.

Jennie: You know, take, I think it’s the time, like dig, dig into the outline with the intention mm-hmm.

Of landing on POV. How about, how about that for your homework?

Andrew: Okay. That sounds good. That sounds good. I can do that.

Jennie: Okay. Well, I can’t wait to hear how it goes. And for our listeners. Until next time, stop playing small and write like it matters.

Outro: The hashtag am [00:42:00] Writing podcast is produced by Andrew Perilla. Our intro music aptly titled Unemployed Monday was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output because everyone deserves to be paid for their work.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe