Hello all you NaNo Novelists, Rebels, and Writers! I hope you're putting the finishing touches on all your prep and you're anxious for November 1st to arrive. Amazing that it's less than a week away! October has just flown by!

And now that we're down to the final days, I have yet another challenge, and I'm asking for your wisdom and help.

I'm writing a murder mystery and my protagonist is a cranky, cantankerous old cop who's retired and also struggling with mental decline. He lost his sense of identity when he was forced to retire, and that's led him to lash out at his neighbors and pick fights with everyone. Because of a back injury he's addicted to oxycodone and he has a tendency to mix it with beer. Turns this guy crazy!

He still wants to be a cop. He wants his neighborhood safe and secure. He wants to protect his neighbors even though he thinks they're all idiots. Well, maybe not idiots. He just doesn't like anybody.

Anyway, he's out prowling around one night and sees one of the very well-respected and likeable neighbors digging in the backyard. He's apparently burying something. Our hero, the cranky cantankerous used-to-be-a-cop figures out it's a body. The neighbor's wife. And now it's up to the addicted, used up, retired cop with a declining memory to bring the killer to justice.

Originally, I thought this cranky old guy wanted to tell the story. In fact, I've got everything planned. BUT, the killer neighbor has been bugging me. He thinks he can tell the story better!

So...I was thinking about writing the story from the killer's point of view. I believe I can still make the cop the hero of the story even though it's being told by the killer. Maybe the killer, the guy telling the story, is a compulsive liar. I can make him an unreliable narrator. Gosh, he's really bugging me to do this. But it would mean revamping my story beats and my outline. Heavy sigh...tough, but it can be done.

What do you think? Tell the story from the cop's point of view? Or tell the story from the killer's point of view? What sounds more interesting...a compulsive liar, or a cranky old addict?

I appreciate any help you can offer.

Thank you!

Cheddah
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