It's taken me months to decide what point of view to tell my latest novel from... and I can't even be sure I've fully decided now. What concerns me about this is have I really decided what story I'm telling if I'm having trouble with something so basic? I think I'm trying to pack too much into this story again (it's a recurring problem). How do you straighten out in your own mind the story you are trying to tell?
Hello Victoria,
This happened to me a lot with my recently published book. We tend to be partial about the importance of our words and believe everything is significant to the story we are telling. The secret, really, is employing a fresh mind/set of eyes to look at what you have, and help determine what ties your story together and what does not. That's the job of a very good professional editor.
Good luck. I hope I have been able to help.
As Edward says, don't worry about too much content - it can be edited down later (and I find most of the pruning comes from near the beginning of the book, where I've been writing my way into the characters and getting to know them).
For POV, I think you know once you've got it right. I recently finished a psychological thriller and it took forever to work that one out, until I hit on writing it from multiple POVs (first person present/third person present and a small section in second person present). Until then, I had the story but it felt wooden; rewriting one of the antagonist's scenes in 2nd person made it come alive.
You might try stepping back for a time, maybe six months, better still a year. By that time your brain will have sorted it out. The subconcious will carry on working your story out for you - it works for me anyway!
This does not mean you don't think about it in the meantime - even adding or subtracting, but let it mature.
I would not be worried about packing too much into your story - the more you have to work on the more you can edit later.