puddles123
02-13-2010, 04:41 AM
This may not be the right place to get constructive information on this, but I may as well give it a shot:
In my personal odyssey of writing a novelization of Final Fantasy VII, I'm getting to the part of the story where the flashback of the Nibelheim incident occurs. In the game, this plays out in a flashback of 20-30 minutes long from the viewpoint of Cloud who details the events leading up to Sephiroth snapping and becoming the villain. This is unskippable, and is integral and absolutely necessary to the plot later on.
My issue is that I've no idea how best to approach this massive flashback when it comes to 'translating' it into the written word. So far, 20-30 minutes of game time has roughly translated into about 40-50 pages. Consequently, this flashback would basically be about two chapters long.
For those of you who read sci fi/fantasy or even fiction in general, you know that a flashback of that magnitude risks derailing the book as the reader wonders why it is going on for so long, and doesn't know why all 'real-time' events have stopped so that this massive flashback can play out. This worries me, and I've been playing with a few possibilities, but none that seem to stick in my mind as the absolute right path to take.
Possibility One - First Person Immediate Memory -
In the game, the story is related to the player by essentially playing out the events as a cutscene, as if the events were actually happening in the moment instead of Cloud telling a story. Occasionally, there are breaks where you get commentary from Tifa, Barret, etc. So basically, it appears that the best way to approach it is to have the events portrayed from Cloud's perspective in a first person point of view, as he relates what happens to him. This would not be told with foreknowledge, it would be told presently, essentially from the perspective of Cloud at the time of the Nibelheim incident. This would allow for more immersion and empathy with what he goes through.
The only problem here is that the entire rest of the novel up to this point is third person limited, jumping from character to character after breaks in scene or chapter. For the novel to suddenly deviate to two chapters of first person will be jarring to say the least.
Possibility Two - Third Person Limited Equivalent
Essentially this would be the same as the first possibility, but it would be, I believe, more standoffish in this scenario, which is why I'm leaning towards first person. But I could be wrong, and this could work out just fine. I'm no expert on writing fiction yet.
Possibility Three - Cloud as Storyteller
This makes the most logical sense, but isn't how it is approached in the game. In this scenario, Cloud would be telling the story to Tifa and the others, but one wouldn't be transported out of the room to the memory. This, I think, would be doable so long as I make Cloud descriptive enough, and it would allow more commentary and reactions from the others, but it would not be an accurate representation of what actually occurs in the game. I think it could work partly because, at this point in time, the reader does not yet realize that Cloud is an unreliable narrator (because of his psychological mindfuckery), but I could drop more hints towards that reality with this method of telling about the incident.
***
All in all, it is a really hard call for me to make, and I've been reading a number of essays and books on point of view to try and help make the decision. Part of what makes it so complicated is the fact that the Nibelheim incident is so necessary and important to the plot that it must be achieved perfectly, and the fact remains that the first time we learn of it, Cloud's point of view isn't even the reality. The real incident comes later, and the differences are easier to point out when the original telling is thorough and complete.
Hopefully, this dilemma interests someone enough to offer some helpful critical advice. It has been immensely tricky for me to discover the right way to approach it.
Thanks ahead of time.
In my personal odyssey of writing a novelization of Final Fantasy VII, I'm getting to the part of the story where the flashback of the Nibelheim incident occurs. In the game, this plays out in a flashback of 20-30 minutes long from the viewpoint of Cloud who details the events leading up to Sephiroth snapping and becoming the villain. This is unskippable, and is integral and absolutely necessary to the plot later on.
My issue is that I've no idea how best to approach this massive flashback when it comes to 'translating' it into the written word. So far, 20-30 minutes of game time has roughly translated into about 40-50 pages. Consequently, this flashback would basically be about two chapters long.
For those of you who read sci fi/fantasy or even fiction in general, you know that a flashback of that magnitude risks derailing the book as the reader wonders why it is going on for so long, and doesn't know why all 'real-time' events have stopped so that this massive flashback can play out. This worries me, and I've been playing with a few possibilities, but none that seem to stick in my mind as the absolute right path to take.
Possibility One - First Person Immediate Memory -
In the game, the story is related to the player by essentially playing out the events as a cutscene, as if the events were actually happening in the moment instead of Cloud telling a story. Occasionally, there are breaks where you get commentary from Tifa, Barret, etc. So basically, it appears that the best way to approach it is to have the events portrayed from Cloud's perspective in a first person point of view, as he relates what happens to him. This would not be told with foreknowledge, it would be told presently, essentially from the perspective of Cloud at the time of the Nibelheim incident. This would allow for more immersion and empathy with what he goes through.
The only problem here is that the entire rest of the novel up to this point is third person limited, jumping from character to character after breaks in scene or chapter. For the novel to suddenly deviate to two chapters of first person will be jarring to say the least.
Possibility Two - Third Person Limited Equivalent
Essentially this would be the same as the first possibility, but it would be, I believe, more standoffish in this scenario, which is why I'm leaning towards first person. But I could be wrong, and this could work out just fine. I'm no expert on writing fiction yet.
Possibility Three - Cloud as Storyteller
This makes the most logical sense, but isn't how it is approached in the game. In this scenario, Cloud would be telling the story to Tifa and the others, but one wouldn't be transported out of the room to the memory. This, I think, would be doable so long as I make Cloud descriptive enough, and it would allow more commentary and reactions from the others, but it would not be an accurate representation of what actually occurs in the game. I think it could work partly because, at this point in time, the reader does not yet realize that Cloud is an unreliable narrator (because of his psychological mindfuckery), but I could drop more hints towards that reality with this method of telling about the incident.
***
All in all, it is a really hard call for me to make, and I've been reading a number of essays and books on point of view to try and help make the decision. Part of what makes it so complicated is the fact that the Nibelheim incident is so necessary and important to the plot that it must be achieved perfectly, and the fact remains that the first time we learn of it, Cloud's point of view isn't even the reality. The real incident comes later, and the differences are easier to point out when the original telling is thorough and complete.
Hopefully, this dilemma interests someone enough to offer some helpful critical advice. It has been immensely tricky for me to discover the right way to approach it.
Thanks ahead of time.