# Writing a story in first person with shifting POV.



## Devora (Mar 30, 2012)

I'm trying to write a story where it for some chapters the point of view is one character, but after a few chapters, it switches to another character. 

Can this be done, and if so, what advice would you give to make the POV transitions more fluidity?


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## TWErvin2 (Mar 30, 2012)

Sure, it can be done. The question is, why are you considering it? Is it necessary to relay the story to the reader? Is it the best way to relay the story to the reader? The last question is probably the most relevant.

I am sure there are novels out there with two or more 1st person POVs. I've not read any that I recall. If I were you, I'd seek a few out and learn from the authors who had some success with such a structure.


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## Devora (Mar 30, 2012)

Do you know any in particular?


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## Queshire (Mar 30, 2012)

yep, it can be done. I tried it in one of my older stories that I never got around to finishing, and I'm debating using it in my current story. I don't know any examples off the top of my head though... : / The Bartimus trilogy perhaps?

Some things to consider though, is ensuring that each PoV has their own disinct and spererate voice. The reader should be able to tell just who is the PoV from a single paragraph if not a single sentence. You should also limit the number of people the perspective is switched to, I recomend just using two, but no more then 4.

One critique from my older story was that all the PoV switching was distracting, but meh...


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## bbeams32 (Mar 30, 2012)

I'm currently working on the sequel to my first-person fantasy book and am telling it through two points of view. 

The premise of the first book was that it was a journal written by the protagonist in which he is trying to make it sound as if he were a storyteller.  In my second book, I really didn't like the idea of one of the main characters being out of the story for as long as they were going to be, so to accomodate that, I am having her writing a journal of her own that the protagonist supposedly gets his hands on at a later time and intersperses her entries into his own journal in accordance with the timeline of the story. I may be a little biased, but it seems to be working for me. 

I also have one chapter in the first book with a different POV, but that was a whole different circumstance that I felt also worked well.


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## Devora (Mar 30, 2012)

Thing is though is that i'm switching between 3 people.


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## Queshire (Mar 30, 2012)

*shrug* that can work. Just remember to make them distinct, I mean, obviously distinct. The worst thing you can have is confusion over who's talking.


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## Devor (Mar 31, 2012)

Treasure Island did it halfway through the book, and it almost gave the impression that the main character might have died.

Typically when a 1st person POV changes, the story claims to be written in a journal of some kind which the characters pass around.  That's what Treasure Island did, and I know I've seen it elsewhere.


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## JCFarnham (Mar 31, 2012)

Leviathan and is sequels by Scott Westerfeld do exactly this between the two protagonists. For me, this works mainly because of the massive secret kept from each other, and how that plays out. It helps that one characters is a scottish girl pretending to be a boy, and the other is an Austrian Prince. Clear character distinction.

What you need to ask yourself though is are you using first person for the right reasons? If all you want is the emotional impact of a close, limited pov and the ability to tell either side of the story then a third limited view point that switches might work better. That pov lends itself more to being able to float into the heads of different characters, to me at least, where as its slightly more difficult in first person. Not impossible as my example should show, but ... well it needs to be worked on at least. 

Of course if you could cut out one or two of the three viewpoints and create more suspense with the ommition of knowledge then maybe that could be something to try? That would make a more traditional first person narrative at least ...

Rule are meant to be broken. Do what works for the story. All that cliche advice. haha


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## Anders Ã„mting (Mar 31, 2012)

Not quite the same thing but similar in concept: Jonathan Stroud did this nifty thing in his Bartimaeus Trilogy, where he had two main characters, Bartimaeus and Nathaniel, the former being the narrator. So, all chapters that focused on Bartimaeus were written in first person perspective, and all chapters focusing on Nathaniel were narrated by Bartimaeus in third person.


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## JCFarnham (Mar 31, 2012)

Anders Ã„mting said:


> Not quite the same thing but similar in concept: Jonathan Stroud did this nifty thing in his Bartimaeus Trilogy, where he had two main characters, Bartimaeus and Nathaniel, the former being the narrator. So, all chapters that focused on Bartimaeus were written in first person perspective, and all chapters focusing on Nathaniel were narrated by Bartimaeus in third person.



That's very interesting 

Though now I think about it, if a first person narrator talks about someone else don't they use "he, she, it"? Of course they do. So in a way I suppose Stroud's trilogy exists within the first person most of the time. Unless of course in Nathaniel's chapter Bartimaeus refers to himself as Bartimaeus, then that is a proper third person pov.

It's still an interesting take on viewpoint that I'll need to consider sticking in my tool box for later.


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## BWFoster78 (Mar 31, 2012)

Jodi Picoult does this in all her books (all the ones I've read anyway).  In a lot of them, sShe switches first person POV to a new character each chapter.  It seems to work pretty well.  I never found the transition jarring.


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## Penpilot (Mar 31, 2012)

I've only seen it done with 2 characters. The book that comes to mind for me that does this is The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad. Like all things in writing you can do anything you like if you can make it work. Is their a reason why you want to do it this way? But if this is the approach you want, try it and see how well you can make it work. 

But generally speaking, IMHO first person shifting POV won't work too well for more than two POV characters. After that, it can be confusing as to the which "I" perspective you're reading from. Third person limited is perfect for shifting POVs. It doesn't feel as disorienting when you change character POVs.


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## Kit (Mar 31, 2012)

Andre Norton used it in the Crystal Gryphon trilogy. She headed each chapter with the narrator's name so that you knew who was talking. I had never seen that before, so it confused me a bit at first, but I liked it once I realized what was going on. I liked being able to get different people's perspective on the same event, and it was interesting to see what the characters agreed upon and what they differed on.


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## bbeams32 (Mar 31, 2012)

I have recently stumbled across an author named Kevin Gerald Rau who has a successful superhero series called H.E.R.O. that he has released independently.  After previewing a couple of his books, I noticed that he does first person from various viewpoints.  Each chapter has a title and the character's name whose view point is used.  For example, chapter one of his first book is:

"Chapter 1 - Food Courts and Untimely Explosions
 Stephanie's Viewpoint"

It's a blunt way of changing viewpoints, but after reading through a couple chapters of changing viewpoints, I was very impressed by how well it worked.


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## The Dark One (Apr 2, 2012)

Trainspotting.

Probably my favourite book of the last 20 years was written from multiple first person POVs. It's all down to how well you manage it (and the strength of your plot).

My recently published speculative fiction title uses numerous perspectives - several of them first person and even has scenes told from two different first person POVs. I used different fonts to convey who was talking and it works really well (as far as I'm concerned).


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## Shockley (Apr 2, 2012)

The best fantasy example of this, that I can think of, is Game of Thrones and the accompanying trilogy.

 Outside of that, I'd suggest looking at some of Agatha Christie's middle work. She was tired of writing solely in the first person, and started to mish-mash view points in her story. The ABC Murders shift from third person to first person (where the third person is explained) and back-and-forth throughout the story. Although it's more a story point than an actual mechanic, the Murder of Roger Ackroyd is the best example of how to use a narrator to mess with your reader's head.

 Outside of that, there's a point in Glen Cook's Black Company series (which I consider one of the best works of prose in the last forty years, genre or no) where the perspective shifts. It's very well done and integral to the story at that point. If you want to know the worst way to make the transitions (and that's just as important as knowing the best way), read the Sound and the Fury.

 It seems that most of my suggestions are boiling down to 'read more' and 'read this,' so let me summarize some of the points that I can think of a reader:

1. Make it organic to the story. Martin and Cook both do a fantastic job of this. If you read/have read Game of Thrones, you notice that no character (except in the first chapter) is introduced in their own chapter. They are all characters we've seen before, and characters that have established characteristics, view points, etc. You're never in Winterfell and bam, suddenly in King's Landing. You get little snippets of the journey, and if they switch to King's Landing someone is already on the way there.

2. Make sure it's necessary to the story (this, I think, is one of Faulkner's flaws in the Sound and the Fury). It's tempting to run off and give someone else's perspective, but chances are it's just slightly removed from the perspective of the person they're closest to. If it's the sidekick, is he really going to introduce all these new points and ideas that the hero didn't?

3. Make sure you don't go too much into backstory or background when you do the switch. That could be the line between enough information and way too much information.


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## Lord Darkstorm (Apr 2, 2012)

Kit said:


> Andre Norton used it in the Crystal Gryphon trilogy. She headed each chapter with the narrator's name so that you knew who was talking. I had never seen that before, so it confused me a bit at first, but I liked it once I realized what was going on. I liked being able to get different people's perspective on the same event, and it was interesting to see what the characters agreed upon and what they differed on.



She also maintained an every other chapter pattern between characters.   So every time you changed chapters, once you figure out she is doing it, you know exactly who's pov you will be in.  Ok, and she tells you too.

My personal opinion is that third person is more commonly used for more than one pov character stories.  Readers are more adapted to it since that is how it is most often done.  I know that people are always about doing something different...while writing the next teen vampire angst story...but doing things the way readers are used to them isn't really a bad thing.  Let me make this point.  Writing a story is about communicating that story to the reader.  Every time you pull the reader out of the story to focus on the words you are writing, you have provided a spot for them to put the story down, or question your ability to tell the story.  The only goal we should really have is telling a tale that readers will find hard to put down, and at the end, find that the 'words' used were so good they never actually noticed them.  

Being different in style isn't a good thing if that is what you are best known for, if you are known at all.  I'd far prefer to be known as a good storyteller than someone good at playing tricks with pov or other writing elements.  Since a good story will more likely get a repeat reader than some cleaver trick of writing.  Something to think about is what was first asked...why do you need to use 1st person pov with more than one pov character, or better yet, do you need more than one pov character?  What does the second pov character bring to the story?  What does the third?  If the only reason is to give more background details on whatever world you have created....well, that might not be a good reason.  

I've read a few story with more pov characters than I can actually keep track of.  While the story was readable, it did cause difficulty following each of the characters and the reason they were introduced..since some of the story lines could have been completely nixed and made a better story.

Pov is a tool, like other writing tools, and can help, or hurt your story.


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