3 Tips for Using Mulitple Point of View Characters
- Limit the number of POV characters. A general caution is to limit the number of POV characters so the reader can be emotionally invested in those few. Zuckerman, in How to Write the Blockbuster Novel, recommends no more than five main characters. Usually, one of the characters emerges as the main character and gets more space, leaving the others as secondary-main characters, so to speak.
Of course, there are lots of exceptions. On the extreme end of the spectrum, Seedfolk, by Paul Fleischman, changes POV with every chapter, dipping into the life of a different member of the community and never repeats a character; I would argue, though, that the real main character of that story is the community, arrived at through these multiple POV. In the end, I still cared for the characters, which is the main point here, and many of their conflicts were resolved while in a different POV, keeping the conflict/resolution connections intact.
- Changing POV perspective. When you change from one character’s POV to another character’s POV, can you change from 1st person to third person? In Donna Jo Napoli’s, Zel, she has three main characters: Rapunzel, told in 3rd; the prince, told in 3rd; and the mother, told in first. Napoli said that the mother had to be in first person so the reader would understand how much of her actions was motivated by love for Rapunzel. So, yes, you can change from 1st to 3rd: the question is why do you want to? What will it add to the story? Napoli had a reason for this choice — better characterization of the mother. What is your reason?
- Use Strong Scene Cuts.
One good reason to use multiple POV characters is it allows for strong scene cuts. Just as one character falls into a dangerous situation, SCENE CUT. We leave that character hanging on the edge of a pit, while we explore another character’s side of the story, until that character is in danger and. SCENE CUT, back to the first character, where we left him about to fall onto a shrub that breaks his fall before he finds himself in some other danger.
Related posts:
How do you handle the POV when multiple characters are in the same scene?
Brian -
Great questions!
When multiple characters are in the same scene and you want to be in the head of each character, then you are writing with an omniscient POV. Usually, if you’re in 3rd person POV (the camera is in one character’s head), you stay in that POV for an entire scene or chapter. If you’re skipping around and dipping into the thoughts and emotions of many characters, it’s omniscient.
Darcy
[...] Multiple Third Person POV: Many writing resources do not differentiate between the multiple third person and omniscient POVs. I feel this is a must, since this is the murky area that ensnared my first novel — a trap which was very difficult to escape. If you even suspect that you may also fall prey to this difficulty, please read the guide “Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint” by Nancy Kress, which is part of the Writer’s Digest “Write Great Fiction” series. Multiple third person POV switches between the perspectives of two or more viewpoint characters — this switch is most frequently seen at chapter or scene breaks. Fantasy writers favor this POV to allow for more elaborate side-plotting. Examples of novels written in multiple third person POV are: James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” Jeanne DuPrau’s “City of Ember” and Jodi Picoult’s “My Sister’s Keeper.” [...]
[...] Multiple Third Person POV: Many writing resources do not differentiate between the multiple third person and omniscient POVs. I feel this is a must, since this is the murky area that ensnared my first novel — a trap which was very difficult to escape. If you even suspect that you may also fall prey to this difficulty, please read the guide “Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint” by Nancy Kress, which is part of the Writer’s Digest “Write Great Fiction” series. Multiple third person POV switches between the perspectives of two or more viewpoint characters — this switch is most frequently seen at chapter or scene breaks. Fantasy writers favor this POV to allow for more elaborate side-plotting. Examples of novels written in multiple third person POV are: James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” Jeanne DuPrau’s “City of Ember” and Jodi Picoult’s “My Sister’s Keeper.” [...]
Hello there,
I have a question after reading many ‘how to write’ and ‘how not to write’ your novel.
Can I switch POV in a novel?
I have a prologue and epilogue written in 1st person for a good reason.
The bulk of the narrative written in multiple 3rd person POV but there are times when small sections are written in the 2nd person POV when a character is writing in her diary.
While this might sound terribly clunky here, it makes sense when you read my manuscript.
The reason I’m asking, I’ve read in so many texts that POV should be made uniform throughout the novel, that I’d be daft to ignore it.
Any thoughts? Many thanks.
Steve:
Thanks for the question. The answer: it depends.
If it works, it works.
But you must have a VERY good reason for doing this and it must be seamless to the reader.
Also, when you switch to the diary entry, for example, make sure you set it off from the rest of the text, perhaps in its own chapter, even if it is very short.
Darcy
If I have a chapter to tell – like for example, a lot of the characters from my story have turned up in the same place – and I don’t what to tell that chapter from any particular point of view – instead – varied ones.
Does every chapter (or scene) have to be from a particular point of view?
*Particular characters point of view (I should have said on the last sentence)
Also – I would like to say that the chapter I am speaking of has a lot going on in it, and swaps in between the inside of a building and the outside.
I purposefully wanted it to be pretty frantic and colourful. But it is impossible to do from one single characters viewpoint.
The usual answer is to change chapter with every change of POV. OR, you can at least leave a couple extra line spaces to indicate that something has changed. Some say to put asterisks to indicate a change. Just something. Don’t just go from one paragraph to the next with a change.
But of course, break any and every rule, if you need to in order to tell your story. Just make sure it works.
Darcy