Switching POVs for dramatic effect

As with most things writing it depends. I've encountered the same thing your talking about when I'm reading. First, to me, it has less to do with POV and more to do with story line. Sometimes I'm disappointed because I was very much into one storyline and the author left me hanging at the end of a chapter. There's nothing wrong necessarily with the upcoming story line, just that the one I'm leaving is so exciting that I wish it would continue. That's good writing and leaving the reader wanting more from the good story line.

Other times, I'm thinking, "Oh gawd, not this guy again." That's not good.

So I guess the question is are you disappointed to be leaving something good or dreading going to something you don't like. If it's at all the latter, then you may have a problem. After all, if it's not interesting to you, it's probably not going to interest others. But if it's the former, then good on ya', Bob, you may have a winner.

I've had that happen with some books I've read. And I've written some scenes where I can't wait to get back to the other story line but I have to keep both going for the story's sake

Have you considered writing all of the part in each POV before jumping to another POV? There's no sacred rule that you have to write chapters in the order in which they'll appear in the finished product, so long as you know what each one does and how.

Maryn, who has similar issues leaping from novel A to novel B

In a sense you've created a writing cliff-hanger - and that if that translates to the reader it could end up as a positive.

They read the new POV as they can't wait to get back to the 'other' story and then get so engrossed that when they return to POV#1, they do it all again.

If you find it disconcerting to write I agree with the philosophy to write it as two stories (one at a time) and then mix them up at the end.

I'm afraid I haven't advice, though I do know where you're coming from. I utilize LOTS of POVs in my stories, mainly because there are so many characters and it's interesting to see the same events from different viewpoints. (The same incident can come across as hugely different depending on who's seeing it!)

I don't tend to tire much of one person's POV when I have to switch back to them, maybe because I have so many characters to rely on and I find it interesting to write from most of them. There are times when it gets difficult to figure out how best to write a particular scene (which character's POV would convey this scene with the most impact?--in short I have to sacrifice writing the scene from one interesting POV because another POV will probably tell it better), though.

Sometime it'd be nice to have the time to write some of those big scenes from the POVs that didn't make it into the story!

*rereading post* Ah, there ARE times though when I get tired of hanging out with particular characters, not so much writing their POV as just wanting to write about someone else! Like, "What's going on elsewhere??"

I always say that if I am bored writing it, the reader will be bored reading it.
BUT, if there is significant action, drama, trauma, etc. going on with the other characters, then it might be a good idea to intersperse the text with a grounding character to give the reader a chance to breathe.

ps, i like your avatar Cato! are you cannuckian?

Cato said:

Yeah, I live in Edmonton. Not sure how to upload a custom avatar.

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I don't remember the number exactly off hand, but I think you need to have a certain number of posts before you can upload a custom avatar. It may be 50, in which case you're almost there.

Maryn said:

Have you considered writing all of the part in each POV before jumping to another POV? There's no sacred rule that you have to write chapters in the order in which they'll appear in the finished product, so long as you know what each one does and how.

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That's exactly how I do it. During the first draft I usually write the protagonist's parts with no clear idea who the antagonist really is (age, appearance, background, etc.)

When the protag's side is nearing completion and I know what the antagonist has to do, the character firms up a bit. Once I start writing their scenes I get a handle on who they are, and when the first draft is done I can sit back and see what I've got.

Then I start the second draft, rewriting all the protagonist's parts to incorporate everything I now know about the antagonist. I don't mean revealing all - I just insert clues and ensure the protag is doing whatever is guaranteed to most annoy his rival, and so on.

In the third draft I do the same for the antagonist - rewriting it to really set him against the protag.

And so on, and so on. No wonder I generally get through 15-25 drafts for each novel.

At one point in my ad infinitum rewrites, I noticed I had another character's thoughts stuck into a chapter written from one character's POV. I wanted that reaction to stand, so I moved it to a more appropriate place as a memory of the character's reaction of that time and place. I don't know how many times I read that passage, and didn't realize it wasn't appropriate. I wonder how many other zingers I have in there that I haven't found yet.

Brrrr. Scary!

Cato said:

The novel I'm working on uses POV switching a lot. It goes back and forth between completely different worlds. The thing is, sometimes when I go back to a prior PVP, I find myself not very excited to continue writing that person's views, and I can't wait to get back to a different character's story. Is this a usual occurence? Does it mean my one character's story is boring?

I remember reading the LOTR books and turning the page only to see the next thirty pages would be about Frodo and Sam, and sighing. Still a great series though.

Anyone have advice?

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Actually, Tolkien doesn't switch from one major plot thread (Frodo/Sam/Gollum) to the other major plot thread (Rohan/Minas Tirith) every thirty pages (chapter to chapter).

The whole of Books One and Two (The Fellowship of the Ring) center on Frodo's journey from Hobbiton to the falls of Rauros. In The Two Towers, Book Three remains with Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf in the fight for Rohan and then the start of the Minas Tirith story. We see nothing of Frodo and Sam for eleven chapters. Book Four switches to Frodo and Sam and Gollum on the road into Mordor and stays with them for 10 chapters, to the cliff-hanger of Frodo's "death" and capture by the Orcs of Cirith Ungol.

The Return of the King opens with Book Five, another ten chapters devoted entirely to the war at Minas Tirith. Frodo and Sam don't reappear until Book Six.

Peter Jackson discusses this interesting structure in the extras for the extended DVDs (RotK, I believe.) He points out that the last three chapters in Two Towers actually line up timewise with Chapters 7 or 8 of Return of the King, requiring much juggling in the screenplays. The screenplays for TT and RotK do switch frequently between the Rohan/Minas Tirith thread and the Frodo/Sam/Gollum thread, in order to keep the timeline straight and, of course, to good dramatic effect.

What fascinates me is that for a long time I didn't notice the segregation of the two major plot threads when reading LotR. It worked for me; indeed, I too have had false memories of more frequent switches from thread to thread.

You don't one POV to be so much more captivating that the reader just skips over the others.

txgrl said:

You don't one POV to be so much more captivating that the reader just skips over the others.

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The "Oh no it's the boring guy again" syndrome. Agreed.

Assuming your protagonist is the most interesting character, you want to write most of the the book from their POV. Antagonist scenes can be reduced to the occasional gleeful cackle and a bit of hand-wringing when the Evil Plans go wrong.

(Sort of.)