McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Is it possible to write a novel with three different points of view?
Wordmaker:
You can absolutely use multiple POVs, and to great effect. One thing I'd suggest is to note down before you start exactly who your POV characters will be and stick to that like glue. It can be very easy to accidentally slip into another character's POV without realising, describing things that, even in a 3rd-person narrative, your actual POV characters could not know.
This is also important when you have more than one of your POV characters in the same scene together. In those cases, I would advise choosing just one of the POVs to use for the duration of that scene. This helps keep the reader focused and avoids confusion.
Gruud:
I tend to stick with one POV per chapter, if at all possible.
If the action or plot dictates that I change POV in the middle of a chapter, somewhere I pcked up the idea/trick to do a double return, followed by a single "*" centered in the page, then another double return before starting the first paragraph of the new POV.
This gives the reader a nice visual cue that something is changing.
Shecky:
--- Quote from: Gruud on February 25, 2011, 06:09:35 PM ---I tend to stick with one POV per chapter, if at all possible.
If the action or plot dictates that I change POV in the middle of a chapter, somewhere I pcked up the idea/trick to do a double return, followed by a single "*" centered in the page, then another double return before starting the first paragraph of the new POV.
This gives the reader a nice visual cue that something is changing.
--- End quote ---
Jim's method for in-chapter PoV shifting was a simple double return.
Starbeam:
--- Quote from: RodimusGT on February 25, 2011, 12:32:01 PM ---Being that I'm new to the writing gig I find it ten times easier to write a story in the first person. Even when reading books I tend to stick to first person novels I just feel more immersed in the story.
My issue is the one book I'm planning to write is impossible to write from just one persons point of view, and to really get everything in there I want I would have to write from three. I know it's possible to do, but in your opinion can it be done in a way that flows well? If adding that many POV's would really take the reader out of the story I'd much rather just give third person a try.
Opinions are appreciated, thanks!
--- End quote ---
It's possibly to do multiple POVs in 1st, but it can be more difficult. The biggest thing you need to do is differentiate the voices of each character so that they don't come across as the same and so that the reader is able to tell that the POV has switched. Another obvious way is to label chapter headings with the characters name.
I would suggest trying both 1st and 3rd for about a page or so with each POV, not necessarily anything that'll be included, just to get a feel for each character, as well as to see which works better.
RodimusGT:
Awesome feedback! Thanks again guys. Assuming I stick to first person I definately would agree that one person per chapter is the best way to go. I was kind of thinking each chapter could be called "John Smith and the something something". Next chapter, if it dealt with another character could be, "Jane Smith and whosey whatsit".
Star you make a real good point about making sure each voice is unique, thanks for that. I'll probably take your advice and write a page or two in both formats and see which works for me best.
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