How many is to many?

[Shanatos]

My thought isn't necessarily having too many perspectives, but splitting the action too much.

Like, is each of these characters having their own different sub-plot? That's where it gets too complicated. But if you have one event happening, but shift the POV to many different characters following the same action, that is less problematic.

 

[Kit]

But if you have one event happening, but shift the POV to many different characters following the same action, that is less problematic.

I like it when you get to see the same event from more than one character's view, especially if it means you 1)get additional pieces of the picture, or 2)the interpretation of what is seen is totally different.

 

[kjboe]

I am writing my first novel, I'm only having 3 main characters in it. But look at all those novels out there, bloody mental amounts of characters in some of them. go for it.

 

[JonSnow]

I am writing my first novel, I'm only having 3 main characters in it. But look at all those novels out there, bloody mental amounts of characters in some of them. go for it.

Well, it also depends on the experience and ability of the writer. For me, 4 points of view and about 12-15 integral characters (with more peripheral/minor characters) is about all I can organize in my own head. Maybe some writers can juggle more. There are two keys: first, can you keep that many perspectives coherent for the reader? second, do the added perspectives offer additional insights into the plot, or do they just bog it down? If they have purpose, and they are clear, then there is no reason not to try. Its all about style... if all authors wrote the same way, reading would get boring in a hurry. That's why I am generally not in favor of concrete, unbreakable writing rules.

 

[ShortHair]

I have a question. In my novel there are fifteen character prospective's. I'm only on chapter 6 and already have two hundred pages done without telling the entire story i wanted to tell in book one. Is that to much?

My personal, subjective reaction is that that is too many. Material gets left out of every book, and if it overcomplicates the story, it should.

If your book becomes popular, you can always come back and tell the same story from those other POVs. If it doesn't, there's not much point.

 

[Penpilot]

Yeah, theoretically the number gets large, but that's an upper bound. In practice it's going to be lower unless all 15 characters are all travelling together.

True enough. Yes, if they don't interact with one another at all, it simplifies things quite a bit. But I'd add indirect interaction still counts as a relationship that must be established. If character A and B are a Generals commanding their respective army from miles away, and never meet physically, there's still a relationship there. Also lovers separated forever by thousands of miles have a relationship linking them too. It isn't always about physical proximity, mental proximity plays the most important role in determining the complexity of the relationship.

In a multi-pov story, a POV character tells part of a story and their parts must fit together with the other POV's parts to form a whole. So they must touch at least briefly, even if it's just at the end where everything comes together. That meeting of POVs must be set up, so there's a relationship that must be established. The results of that meeting maybe simple to deal with, or the may be complex. Depending on which, the story complexity will increase. That's the way I see things.

 

[C.B. Jones]

ya I've been re-working my book these past weeks and settled with six.

 

[FireBird]

I think that there is really nothing wrong with multiple viewpoints in itself, but there are so many problems to deal with that going over 5 or 6 really starts to get difficult. First you have to keep the readers attention, which means you have to find a way to introduce all of the characters in an equally interesting fasion. Martin did this by having all the viewpoint characters minus one in one place at the beginning of the book. I hate it when readers are introduced to a great character and then the next viewpoint is medicore compared to the previous one.
Second you have word count to deal with. Most publishers will not accept over 100k or 120k for a new author. All of Martin's novels are well over what, 300k? You don't have many words to get your readers to care about many characters.
These are just a few of the problems I can think of right now. Most of them probably have a good solution that I can't think of.

 

[Aosto]

To many POV's is the exact reason I haven't finished reading 'A Song of Fire and Ice'. It's way to much for me, as a reader, to try to keep track of. I want to enjoy a book, but I feel like I have to keep notes to enjoy that series. If you can do it in a way that is seamless and easy to read then go for it.