Memoir of an Author, or ... Searching for my Point of View

     Some authors may never have this wonderful experience.
     That can be good or bad, depending on your point of view. And therein lies the essence of this memoir ... and the problem.
     Every story worth telling must be told in the right point of view. So, what is the right point of view?
     First, I cannot decide for you.
     Second, since I've recused myself, I can be free to present my case: The Memoir of an Author, or ... Searching for my Point of View.
     I wrote my first novel sans knowledge of craft. I merely sat down and ... no, that's not exactly how it happened. What happened was, I was getting ready to go to work one morning and, as usual, the TV was on in another room. I had the habit of stopping in the doorway now and then to see a newscast or watch a program (another way of procrastinating during those final days before retirement when the last thing I wanted to do was go to work). On this particular morning, a program called Life Styles of the Rich and Famous (Robin Leach) was on the TV. Leach was interviewing some publishers and Romance Novelists. What I noticed expecially was the near-drooling of the publishers when they spoke of the money they were earning as well as the profits for successful romance novels (though not as much for them).
     Visualizing that money and thinking of retirement, I heard myself saying aloud, "I can do that."
     And that night after I got home from work, that's exactly what I did. I sat down and wrote the most awful romance novel in the history of writing. I sent it off to a publisher and, surprisingly, received an encouraging rejection letter in short order.
     I fiddled around with a couple more romance plots, then realized I'd better read some romance novels to see what other authors did. I bought a few off the supermarket shelf and found I didn't like romance novels. (Over the years, I'd been a reader of every genre, but eventually found I was reading mostly mystery genre ... never romance.) Unsure what to write next, my spouse woke up one morning and related the dream he'd had during the night. I made a few changes in location, then proceeded to write the novel, completing it in a few months. It was a lovely story, actually a love story, in the manner of Luc Besson's film, The Professional, being a love story. 
     But it wasn't quite right. So, I spent a number of years studying craft, and completed two other book-length works of fiction while that first one sat in a file cabinet. From time to time, I took it out and worked it over. But I never knew what caused it to be "not quite right."
     Then two years ago, my latest version of that novel made the rounds in an elite writers' group. I say elite because the majority of the authors are published, and they really know "craft." And I received the best advice I've ever received anywhere, be it another author, blog, or how-to book. The story is great, but your point of view is all over the place.  Or, something like that.
     So, for the past two years I've been searching for my point of view. Meanwhile, I wrote another novel. Being one of those authors who works on more than one project at a time, I found myself picking up that first novel and giving it a go. Each time, I tried a new point of view character (I'd reached a point in my writing career where I believed a book should contain no more than two point of view characters). And each time, after I was a few chapters into the book, I realized that it just wasn't working with the point of view character I'd chosen. Mostly because the story became something other than what I'd originally written when told in this new point of view. Not fretting, I simply put the book away and worked on something else.
     And that brings me to today ... or actually yesterday.
     Yesterday I had one of those supernatural epiphanies that authors like to speak of. And finally, I knew. I'd been right the first time. I'd chosen the right point of view character in my very first iteration. It was his story, after all. Then, it was just a matter of changing all the other point of view chapters to his point of view. Simple.
     Maybe not. 
     But all I can do now is put my theory to the test. So, here I am, resurrecting the manuscript that went through the elite writers' group critique session, and I've just begun to rewrite it. Of necessity, it requires two point of view characters, both major to the story. All the rest will have their stories told by new people: the man whose story it is and the woman whose life is most affected by that man.
     I'll let you know how it turns out.