There are often questions around here regarding the use of Multiple POV’s- Well, let me tell you about the book I just finished reading…
First off, I’m speaking from a reader’s perspective as I’m certainly not in a position to offer criticism from a writer’s perspective.
The story starts off in First Person/Past Tense with an MC and 3-4 (SC) Secondary Characters. The MC tells us about herself and about the Secondary Characters for the first 30 pages or so.
From this point forward, the MC separates from the SC’s and the story bounces back and forth from being First Person through the eyes of the MC to Third Person from the viewpoint of the different SC’s (One SC at a time though). Sometimes the SC’s are on their own and sometimes the SC’s are together as one of them has her story told through a scene. A good thing is that the viewpoints remained constant to the chapter.
To try and make this example more clear:
The MC and the SC’s are all friends. The MC’s story is a story on its own. The SC’s stories are smaller stories on their own. The only thing connecting all of these stories is the friendship and that they are all going through similar crisis.
That being said, here’s what happened to this reader…
I stayed with the MC from the beginning, enjoyed her story throughout the entire book, wished I could have heard more of her story.
After about three chapters of the SC’s stories, interspersed throughout the MC’s chapters (Around page 60 of this 300+ page book),I began flipping past the SC’s chapters as I didn’t really care what they were doing and I didn’t want to lose my focus on what I had invested in the MC. (Meaning I read about 60% of this book)
Apparently, the SC’s did have stories as the MC and SC’s all get together at the end and the loose ends of the stories are wrapped up, but still, I didn’t care enough to go back and see why the SC’s were wrapping up the things they were.
I’m going to say, in this case, multiple POV’s did not work. Why? I’m guessing it was because the real story was the MC’s story. And the SC’s stories didn’t have much of an effect on the MC’s story. Her story would have been basically the same, with or without the SC’s. The author could have kept the entire book in First Person, kept the SC's around as the MC's friends, and it would have been a much better and more fluid story. Also, I loved the authors voice in the First Person, not so much in the Third.
Now- I have read another book that used a similar format and it worked beautifully. The story was told mainly in First Person through the eyes of the MC. Every so often, there was a short chapter told from Third Person/ Omniscient POV about the goings on of a character who would later change the MC’s life in a very dramatic way. (About 85% of this story was the MC’s)
I’ve also read other stories that worked with multiple POV’s and as I recall, those stories seemed to keep all of the characters mingled together even as each of their stories was being told- And, in those stories, the main story really was the story of all of the characters.
What this shows me , from my readers perspective, is that multiple POV’s can work well if the characters stories are all equally weighted or if the additional POV’s have/will have a major impact on the MC.
Well, just wanted to share this information as this topic seems to come up often around here and I figured it may be beneficial to someone. Again, I’m not speaking as an experienced writer- this is my view as a reader, so, take it for what it’s worth.
ETA: OMG! Formatting issues... and then some...
First off, I’m speaking from a reader’s perspective as I’m certainly not in a position to offer criticism from a writer’s perspective.
The story starts off in First Person/Past Tense with an MC and 3-4 (SC) Secondary Characters. The MC tells us about herself and about the Secondary Characters for the first 30 pages or so.
From this point forward, the MC separates from the SC’s and the story bounces back and forth from being First Person through the eyes of the MC to Third Person from the viewpoint of the different SC’s (One SC at a time though). Sometimes the SC’s are on their own and sometimes the SC’s are together as one of them has her story told through a scene. A good thing is that the viewpoints remained constant to the chapter.
To try and make this example more clear:
The MC and the SC’s are all friends. The MC’s story is a story on its own. The SC’s stories are smaller stories on their own. The only thing connecting all of these stories is the friendship and that they are all going through similar crisis.
That being said, here’s what happened to this reader…
I stayed with the MC from the beginning, enjoyed her story throughout the entire book, wished I could have heard more of her story.
After about three chapters of the SC’s stories, interspersed throughout the MC’s chapters (Around page 60 of this 300+ page book),I began flipping past the SC’s chapters as I didn’t really care what they were doing and I didn’t want to lose my focus on what I had invested in the MC. (Meaning I read about 60% of this book)
Apparently, the SC’s did have stories as the MC and SC’s all get together at the end and the loose ends of the stories are wrapped up, but still, I didn’t care enough to go back and see why the SC’s were wrapping up the things they were.
I’m going to say, in this case, multiple POV’s did not work. Why? I’m guessing it was because the real story was the MC’s story. And the SC’s stories didn’t have much of an effect on the MC’s story. Her story would have been basically the same, with or without the SC’s. The author could have kept the entire book in First Person, kept the SC's around as the MC's friends, and it would have been a much better and more fluid story. Also, I loved the authors voice in the First Person, not so much in the Third.
Now- I have read another book that used a similar format and it worked beautifully. The story was told mainly in First Person through the eyes of the MC. Every so often, there was a short chapter told from Third Person/ Omniscient POV about the goings on of a character who would later change the MC’s life in a very dramatic way. (About 85% of this story was the MC’s)
I’ve also read other stories that worked with multiple POV’s and as I recall, those stories seemed to keep all of the characters mingled together even as each of their stories was being told- And, in those stories, the main story really was the story of all of the characters.
What this shows me , from my readers perspective, is that multiple POV’s can work well if the characters stories are all equally weighted or if the additional POV’s have/will have a major impact on the MC.
Well, just wanted to share this information as this topic seems to come up often around here and I figured it may be beneficial to someone. Again, I’m not speaking as an experienced writer- this is my view as a reader, so, take it for what it’s worth.
ETA: OMG! Formatting issues... and then some...
Last edited:
