Recently, I've actually decided to buckle down and start writing my first novel. (I started it well over five/six years ago but it got lost in the muddle of school/military/life/etc.) Anyway, I'm writing in third person limited, and I keep getting distracted by small things. For example, I noticed "he" everywhere in my text. (The first scene involves him returning to his childhood home in the midst of a battle... so not much external dialog, just description and movement.)
So, first thing I do is look at other third person limited texts (Hills like White Elephants, by Hemmingway, for example) and now that I'm looking for it, I see other writers using 'he' about as much as I am.
So, now that you read all that... I guess the real question is... how do I train myself to ignore these things (and not stop writing to read other stuff... and post in a forum
and just keep writing? Is it better to ignore everything I see (or think I see) and just keep going or is it better (since this is my first book and will probably be thrown away at the end anyway) to keep doing these side quests and call it a learning experience? And, do hills really look like white elephants??? Aigh, the questions!
Thanks in advance.