What would be a good reason of why most authors switch POV?

I switched from 1st to 3rd in my WIP because I decided that I wanted my MC to be "in on it" from the beginning of the story, and I couldn't see doing first person narrative without giving it away. I actually change the POV to a secondary character (kinda like Watson narrating for Holmes, only in 3rd person).

If you mean hop from one Character to another, it's usually because the POV character you've been using isn't physically in a needed scene - or because you want to get inside the thoughts of another character to let the reader in on their motivaitons.

If you mean 1st to 3rd person in one book, James Patterson does that with Alex Cross novels - the Alex chapters are 1st person, everyone else is in 3rd. It works as a way to get the MC's POV and distance yourself from the villain. After all, in a real investigation, the investigators don't get inside info from the killer's head.

For each scene, I write from the POV of either the person that is there or the one who has most to lose/ is affected most by what happens in that scene. I change when that changes.

You don't want to switch the POV too often, I would think, because it could get confusing for the reader. But if you're stuck after an epic scene, trying to see what comes next through another character's eyes could get you going again. A new character viewpoint inherently is a different perspective, and it may bring you insight into things you hadn't thought about before.
(I always feel like I could say so much more and then my words trip up in my head. *grr*)

> I mean hop from one characters POV to the next. Sort of.

There is no need to switch character if there aren't pieces of the story that need be seen from another POV. As for which character to tell the story from, it depends on the information you want to convey and how. Consider the two following snippets from different POVs.

The officer approached the car and asked for the man's papers. The driver showed a nervous smile. Suspecting something might be amiss, the officer bent forward and took a quick whiff to check for anything that would smell like alcohol or marijuana.

Jack hid his handgun under his vest as the police officer approached his car, hopeful he would not notice the big hump underneath the blanket in the back seat under which his dead brother rested. He watched with terror the officer bent forward and glance around, and readied himself to pull the gun.

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Same story. Which one you think conveys it best? Maybe in this case, you'd need both. Or maybe you want to shield Jack from his crime and use the officer's POV. Or you want to increase the tension by taking Jack's POV. It depends.

-cb

It is true that switching POV too much can be confusing.

That being said, I like using multiple P'sOV. They can be used to reveal information to the reader that the MC is not privy to and thus build suspense. For example: one of the MC's ally's is actually a minor villain but MC doesn't know this.

Or a different POV can be used when the MC is incapacitated.

Personally, I switch the language in the narrative to reflect the different characters as the POV switches. Which details they notice, how things are described, etc. (In a third person subjective MS, that is.)

I have never had trouble when reading a multiple POV book. A good writer/editor team should smooth out all the transitions.

I find I write in multiple POV's because so many of the books I enjoy reading have multiple POV's. Also, it gives you opportunities to increase tension: showing you things from, say, the villain's POV, you know things now that the hero doesn't.

Do stop and think before you write this sort of nonsense, Blue.

What your POV character is actually doing isn't the governing factor at all- they could be lying on a bench with ahot towel over their face - it's what your POV character is observing, feeling, hearing, experiencing, witnessing etc., that matters.

And as to 'why not switch to another character's POV' - get focussed and start doing your own thinking - who is the person through whom the scene is best revealed to the reader?

How on earth do you expect me or anyone else to tell you whose POV to use?

Which one -in your opinion as the story-teller -works best in any particular scene? Got it? Use them.

Good luck.

BlueLucario said:

Thing is. The next scene from the MC's point of view would be too tedious, she's doing something that is just as unimportant as making a peanut butter sandwich. So I thought why not switch to another character's POV? The question is: who?

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I'd suggest writing it from the PBsandwich maker's POV for the 1st draft if that's who's told the rest of the story. You can always go back in edits and change the POV - the important thing now is to get the scene fleshed out so you know what's the important aspects of it. (sometimes there's a bit of a lull in a story where the MC just really needs that PB&J to recharge)

BlueLucario said:

Thing is. The next scene from the MC's point of view would be too tedious, she's doing something that is just as unimportant as making a peanut butter sandwich. So I thought why not switch to another character's POV?

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Why not just skip that tedious bit and jump to the next moment where the story is interesting again? Like the scene where the MC's peanut allergy flares up, or where she learns that the bread was intended for the boy king, or where she discovers the stolen diamonds in the bottom of the peanut butter jar...

Dale

If I have two characters whose pov I could show a scene from, I usually pick whichever one will be feeling stronger emotions and thinking more surprising things during the scene. If you want one character to seem mysterious, you avoid using that character's pov (much). Also you can just alternate regularly between two or however many, or if you're not sure who to use for a particular chapter you can use whichever one hasn't had a turn recently.

I have done very strict single POV, and I hate head-hopping, but multiple POV's can enrich a plot. I have two main POV characters. In their debut novel, the primary one is in a state of deep depression for most of a few chapters, so nobody would want to be in his head for very long. Most of the time, I alternate between the two because 1. At first, they haven't met yet but I want the reader to feel it coming, 2. The way they perceive each other is interesting/amusing, and 2. One is in a bad spot and the other is concerned about him. It is similar to how one might handle a romance, but it's male bonding.

I use several other characters' POV for brief scenes when a lot is happening in a short time. The different views of the same time period have cliff-hangerish endings that finally resolve. I think the converging scenes heighten suspense, besides adding details that come in again later.

A few alternate-POV scenes are there to show off the bad guys. Some scenes also provide cultural background through character thoughts and actions rather than info-dumpy explaining.

I was a little alarmed when I counted up all the POV characters--nine! There are a few times when I go omniscient without dipping into any heads. At the end of a scene or two, I make what I call a soft transition. The POV character leaves the scene but the POV stays behind, and another character has the final moment. I wouldn't advise doing that a lot, but it seems to work in small doses when it adds something and that something isn't worth a scene of its own. My betas haven't mentioned it....

All I do has been absorbed in many years of reading, and observing how other authors have handled things.

How far are you into the book for this first POV switch?

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I was wondering this, too. It might matter a lot. Too far in and you risk the reader getting frustrated. And going from epic to slow is fine. It just winds the pace down a bit. Sometimes that can be good.

Different scenes and events are better served when being told from differing perspectives. I tend toward a third-person limited style and switch between several characters throughout a story. Several of my manuscripts contain multiple POV characters, two of them with up to fifteen.

It's a matter of getting the proper perspective for each scene, each chapter, each arc, each story.

I'm switching between two POV characters (at scene breaks) because the "lead" character has very limited knowledge of what's going on and is mostly acting on assumption. Scenes involving the second POV character broaden the story by letting the reader in on what's *really* happening. This may lower reader curiosity levels, but I'm hoping interest levels will rise higher as the two entirely different perspectives gallop towards a fateful collision.

-Derek

BlueLucario said:

I finished an epic scene, and kind of don't know what to do next. Maybe switch POVs, but not sure who. I just want to ask a question out of curiosity, what would be the good reasons why authors switch point of view? Why would an author choose that character of all the characters he would have chose?

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I switch POVs many times over the course of a chapter.

I switch as a way to hide time jumps, to hide vital information from the reader, to give vital information to the reader, to reveal what's happening elsewhere.

Generally I go with the character who is going to have the most interesting perspective.

Switch viewpoint if there's more than one story to tell in your novel, or if you're trying to show different sides of the same story. Don't just switch it if the scene's dull. Do as Dale suggested and skip over the dull stuff and find a scene with juicy action or a dilemma.

I only ever switch viewpoint if it's necessary. If I need the reader to be clued in on something that the MC isn't physically present for, I obviously switch viewpoint. (Although I'd also avoid switching viewpoint just to let the reader know what's happening elsewhere, especially if you use a 'throwaway' character to do it and then never go back to them again). I'll also switch viewpoint if the second viewpoint character is very important to the story and needs to be developed.