Multiple POV

[SBDanes]

Does anyone find it confusing when a story has multiple point of views during it? DO you find you can't get into a character as much? Or do you find it more interesting?

 

[TWErvin2]

Does anyone find it confusing when a story has multiple point of views during it?

No, not if written well.

DO you find you can't get into a character as much?

No, not if it's written well.

Or do you find it more interesting?

It depends on the story being told.


Sorry about such generic answers, but if an author does it right--making it easy to determine a shift in POV, having a unique voice for the POV, the POV characters and the choice to use them seem to have a purpose in relaying the story to the reader and is done effectively--then multiple POVs are not a problem at all.

If you're considering writing a story using multiple POVs, be sure to read/study authors that have used multiple POVs, in the same POV you intend to use, even the same tense, and possibly a similar story structure. See how they accomplished it--how and when and why they switched POVs for example. Take notes, then apply what you learned to your own story and writing style.

Using multiple POVs can be an effective tool to relay a story to the reader, if done properly.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

I enjoy multiple POVs. Seeing the story unfold from different perspectives can often enhance my interest. But here's the key.... The POVs must ALL be interesting & distinct if this is going to work to full effect. Two characters, doing basically the same things and filling the same roles within a story will drag interest down. They dilute each other's uniqueness within the story, if you will.

If each POV is distinct, if each arc is different, if their individual involvement in story events lends a differing perspective on events, then the use of multiple POVs can be effective.

 

[Terry Greer]

I love multiple POV novels - but the expectation is that these POV characters have to eventually interact in some way (though not necessarily face to face). It's the expectation of that that keeps me reading and interested (of course each POV character needs to be interesting as well as T.Allan Smith says.

 

[Julian S Bartz]

Agree with TWERVIN, if it is well written it can be great.

One thing that I love about multiple POV's is the way in which, if done properly, you get to the end of a chapter or section and when you switch POV you groan because you want to keep reading about one character. However a few paragraphs in and you are hooked on the new POV, only to groan again when it switches back to the original character.