BWFoster78
Myth Weaver
I've been thinking a lot lately about POV shifting from scene to scene, when to use it and when not to.
When I read A Song of Fire and Ice, I found myself finding it hard to get into the story. I think there are multiple reasons for this. For one, he keeps killing off anyone that I like. Another important factor, however, is that he switches POV with every chapter.
An author who I beta read for also switched POV a lot in his WIP, and I found it quite annoying.
My first conclusion was that I don't like a lot of POV shifts. In my WIP, I tried to keep them to a minimum.
Reading Benjamin Clayborne's The Queen of Mages recently, however, I noticed that I did not mind that he switched POV with each chapter. Obviously, my conclusion was that Benjamin is a much better writer than George R. R. Martin.
Not saying that that conclusion is not correct, but I gave the manner some further thought. I think it's not the POV switch that annoys me; it's the jumping from place to place and person to person that interrupts the continuity of my reading. In The Queen of Mages, the POV shifts but, much of the time, the action stays with the same group. For example, his male protagonist and female protagonist are traveling together. When the chapter ends, we still see both of them in the scenes; it's just from a different perspective.
For me, this did not impact the flow.
I tend to like long series of books where I can really get to know the characters. I think this preference holds true internal to a novel. I want a long stretch of following a character or the same group of characters. Switching too often takes me out of the novel.
I don't know if that's purely a personal preference or if it may reflect a trait prevalent in the overall set of fans of epic fantasy.
For my own work, I'm adding more POV shifts in my rewrite.
Anyway, just something to think about. What are your opinions?
When I read A Song of Fire and Ice, I found myself finding it hard to get into the story. I think there are multiple reasons for this. For one, he keeps killing off anyone that I like. Another important factor, however, is that he switches POV with every chapter.
An author who I beta read for also switched POV a lot in his WIP, and I found it quite annoying.
My first conclusion was that I don't like a lot of POV shifts. In my WIP, I tried to keep them to a minimum.
Reading Benjamin Clayborne's The Queen of Mages recently, however, I noticed that I did not mind that he switched POV with each chapter. Obviously, my conclusion was that Benjamin is a much better writer than George R. R. Martin.
Not saying that that conclusion is not correct, but I gave the manner some further thought. I think it's not the POV switch that annoys me; it's the jumping from place to place and person to person that interrupts the continuity of my reading. In The Queen of Mages, the POV shifts but, much of the time, the action stays with the same group. For example, his male protagonist and female protagonist are traveling together. When the chapter ends, we still see both of them in the scenes; it's just from a different perspective.
For me, this did not impact the flow.
I tend to like long series of books where I can really get to know the characters. I think this preference holds true internal to a novel. I want a long stretch of following a character or the same group of characters. Switching too often takes me out of the novel.
I don't know if that's purely a personal preference or if it may reflect a trait prevalent in the overall set of fans of epic fantasy.
For my own work, I'm adding more POV shifts in my rewrite.
Anyway, just something to think about. What are your opinions?