Changing Characters' POVs

[cherrystark]

For sure. I realized early on I couldn't give every character the attention they need because of the size of the cast. However with my MC, she gets more scenes by herself to show us insight into what she's going through.

[AnimeKitty]

I think having multiple first person perspectives can work, but it needs to be limited. 2 or 3 characters I feel is a good limit. Having 10 different perspectives would be a nightmare to read and keep track of, for example. I'm not a fan of naming the chapter by character name, although I have done it and am in the process of changing it. My current story, Vengeful Valentine is in first person and switches between Adam and Everly's POV. I feel like it works well, but I much prefer writing in third person now. All my future stories will be told in third person, just because it comes more naturally to me.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

I used first-person POV-switching in the third novel of my trilogy:

Demon of Colors | Tapas

I don't know if it went over well or not (no one commented on it, unfortunately...) but I did enjoy writing it, and I feel like it's helped by (a) the reader already being familiar with both characters from the first 2 books, and (b) the two characters having drastically different narrative styles and experiences. It's not hard to distinguish between the 30-year-old hunter and the 9-year-old alien hybrid. ^^;

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

I've read a couple stories (they were never finished) that used that xxx's POV format for every scene. With the first POV narrative it seemed I had been told that whole scene, but then I had to hear the whole scene another time or two or three for each of the participants. It felt awkward & by the 3rd person's POV, I was done with the scene & didn't care what their POV was.

[therosesword]

So far when it comes to first person I have only used a first person POV in a story, I have not included others, especially if each person is looking at the same scene. I think if I were to do that each "look" at the action would be a new chapter. I probably wouldn't name the chapter as being "POV Tommmy" but then, I never name chapters anyway. To me naming whose point of view sounds too much like a film script and a prose piece are being mixed together. And, of course, it would depend on how well done it was. After all, I'm a big fan of House of Leaves and that played fast and loose with a lot of "norms."

I mix POV in my fantasy series Bright Morn but always there is a separation by chapter or the four cute little asterisks. However, because I have fight scenes I change POV but always beginning a new paragraph and relying on the reader's intelligence to figure it out rather than pointing it out.

[RyzaCobalion]

That is true. But it also depends on the readers themselves for their preference.

[skippyjoeskilling]

I feel like it comes down to what kind of story you're telling. In something plot-driven, I would avoid POV switching 1st person POVs just to keep the reading experience a little easier. The Game of Thrones series has multiple POVs, but they're all in 3rd person, so it's easier to switch characters and get a rundown on what they're doing and thinking without also adapting to a totally new writing style.

If you're switching first person POVs, I think the focus moves from putting a plot together to looking at how different people react to the same event. Most of Faulkner's books have multiple 1st person POVs, and also have very little plot. But they make up for it because the book is about seeing how every member of a family emotionally reacts to the death of their mother, not about what they're physically doing about it.

I apologize if that was a little hard to follow, but the point is that it's not about one POV type being better than the other, and more about knowing what kind of story you are telling and what technique will tell it best.

[kmlangleyauthor]

I usually enjoy reading multiple POV stories — IF they’re done well. I do not love it when a scene is rehashed multiple times in first person just so explain how each person was feeling when it could have been done as a single scene in third omniscient. But I do enjoy going back and forth, seeing how events affect each character differently as I’m reading.

As for writing, I started my story in third limited and then... my characters took over and I switch my other main into first it wasn’t even a choice — it’s what needed to happen but it’s blocks of episodes at a time that each character gets their POV, so I hope it’s not too jarring (I’ve only had a few people even comment on it, and no one seemed upset). I think each POV suits my characters’ voices really well, though. And my main characters have very different motivations and focus, so the story shows very different things during their POVs (and no overlapping scenes).

If you're switching first person POVs, I think the focus moves from putting a plot together to looking at how different people react to the same event. Most of Faulkner's books have multiple 1st person POVs, and also have very little plot. But they make up for it because the book is about seeing how every member of a family emotionally reacts to the death of their mother, not about what they're physically doing about it.

This is spot on, honestly. I think most people who are first POV hopping are also trying to work in a “fast moving” plot and then it gets messy and sort of forgotten under all the layers of characters’ feelings and thoughts — which, in and of themselves, can make for a really interesting story!

[CarltonIsaac]

For my Fantasy Novel series STORM SOWN, I have the story unfolding in the 3P-POVs of Five support characters, each one moving the story forward as they interact with the Main Characters and other side characters.

I don’t like reading or writing in FP-POV, except for video game walk through narration.

[otaku_rose]

I just recently used multiple perspectives in my novel. I found that the first person was the easier route for me. At first, it was really hard trying to find the word language these two characters used but I found it helpful to really get into the character's thoughts. I used this perspective change at a huge cliffhanger in the story so the flow didn't come off as choppy. If you have time, take a look at the chapters in my novel!

[cherrystark]

I read a few of your chapters and they have a nice voice and feel to them.

Ultimately, my issues with changing POVs is how smooth the story flows and character voice. Some stories I've read, the character voice doesn't match the character's apparent age and experience level so they all end up sounding the same. If the shifts are done well, I don't even notice them.

[Penni]

As long as the characters are distinct from each other, I don't about changes in POV. But if I have to look at the named title to figure out who I'm reading, that's a problem.

Now that I think about it, all of my webnovels have had POV changes in it

I think I'd more prone to do it with a webnovel than a novel intended for trad pub.

[joannekwan]

I can stand first person POV changes if I must.
But I definitely don't like scene retreads. It's like the author is writing a whole companion novel within the first novel! I'd rather they just switch to third person omniscient.

[Penni]

I do prefer omniscient for POV changes. Good Omens is a wonderful (personal) example of this

[cherrystark]

@Penni @joannekwan Same! 3rd person omniscient is a great way to do POV changes, I prefer them. IF we have to see a repeat scene, I prefer it like how Leverage does it where we see some twist we didn't see the first time.

[paracosmosfiction]

Third-person writing feels a lot freer to me in terms of perspective-changing. I find if I write the scene correctly, I can change the perspective from one character to another fairly organically within the writing. Ultimately, whenever I write a scene, the first question I ask myself upon reading back over it is "Will this confuse my readers?" Fortunately, I have friends and family to fall back on if I'm ever not sure about a scene and need to have them read it to make sure it makes sense.

As far as first-person goes, I feel like part of the charm of writing from the first-person perspective is that we only see things from that one character's perspective. This means we as the readers are only as aware of the story unfolding in front of us as the narrator is. That said if you want to offer a first-person perspective whilst also maintaining the freedom of perspective of a third person writing you could always just insert an actual 'Narrator Character' into your writing, who tells the story whilst also being a character in the story. Lemony Snicket is the most famous example of this I can think of.

[alexlcuri07]

I completely agree. Actually, seeing ~X-Name POV~ at the top of a chapter, especially if its followed up with first person is one of those things that will make me put a story down.

I have seen interesting variations on this though. One of my favorite book series (The House of Night novels by PC and Kristen Cast) was written in first person. However when they switched to multiple POVs several books into the series, the MC was still written in 1st person while the other cast member chapters were written in 3rd. I was surprised at how much I didn't hate the transition and preferred it over them trying to make all the other character chapters in 1st person POV.

Personally I write 3rd person, multiple POV but I try to make each character have a unique inner voice, and I rarely switch between character POVs within one chapter.

[cherrystark]

The Mary Russell books are the same way. Whenever Mary is telling the story, it's always 1st person. Whenever Sherlock, Watson, or any other character needs to present their piece of the narrative, it's always 3rd person. With that, there is always some explanation of the shift like letters, a person reading a diary, etc.

[Arterrex]

Changing POV when writing 1st person is probably a bad idea in almost all cases. It kind of betrays the point of writing in 1st person in the first place which is to tell the story from a particular characters POV and give the reader an intimacy with them and the way they think. I think it can be done but it's probably very difficult to pull off correctly and probably not something you will find done well by beginner writers.

Changing POV when writing 3rd person, however, seems pretty normal depending on the kind of story you are writing. Some stories obviously benefit from it more than others.

[carafox2121]

I love switching in first person POV, but I will say it took me a long time to figure out how to do it in a way that felt right to me. Admittedly, I do start off by putting the name at the top, but then I try to make sure the personality of the character shines through. Typically, I like to have at least 2 characters that I switch between and every now and again I will sprinkle in another person. Kind of like when a show reveals something but only the audience knows. And whenever I have any scene overlaps it usually reveals something that wasn't revealed to the main character or shows the emotion of the opposite character in the scene. I don't do that too often because it does feel a tad repetitive when it's overdone.

I have written in third person, but just couldn't quite get the feel I was looking for. I can see how third person omniscient can benefit storytelling, it's just not the style that draws me personally. Like, I don't mind reading it, but writing it is just not my go-to.