Not sure if this is a grammar or style question.
I have a novel with different viewpoints of the same event. Say, you have Bob witnessing a murder in one chapter, 3rd person POV. The next chapter has Susan witnessing the same murder, also 3rd person POV. My example isn't the best, but lets assume you have different person's viewpoints of the same event at the same time, but in different chapters.
Why? Well stylistically it seem to work out for me, plus it allows me to concentrate on one person's reactions for a whole chapter. Better than intertwining a mix of character reactions in the same chapter.
What confusion is this likely to cause the reader, and what grammatical or stylistic approach should I take? I believe I've made it obvious what I've done, and so have not done anything special with the grammar. It's all past tense, so who cares? Especially when the chapters are in sequence - person A views the murder scene in chapter 1, person B views the same murder scene in chapter 2, etc. The readers automatically assumes that all chapters are happening at the same point in time, assuming you give them all the right clues?
There's a variation of this theme that I think I remember seeing done. That's when events in chapters overlap in time. For example, chapter 1 may have the killer (POV) leaving the murder scene, chapter 2 may have the police (POV) entering just as he's leaving. Some overlap in time may be present between the two chapters. No problem right?
On the other hand, when doing a flashback, it's recommended that past perfect tense be used at the start as a clue that it's a flashback.
I have a novel with different viewpoints of the same event. Say, you have Bob witnessing a murder in one chapter, 3rd person POV. The next chapter has Susan witnessing the same murder, also 3rd person POV. My example isn't the best, but lets assume you have different person's viewpoints of the same event at the same time, but in different chapters.
Why? Well stylistically it seem to work out for me, plus it allows me to concentrate on one person's reactions for a whole chapter. Better than intertwining a mix of character reactions in the same chapter.
What confusion is this likely to cause the reader, and what grammatical or stylistic approach should I take? I believe I've made it obvious what I've done, and so have not done anything special with the grammar. It's all past tense, so who cares? Especially when the chapters are in sequence - person A views the murder scene in chapter 1, person B views the same murder scene in chapter 2, etc. The readers automatically assumes that all chapters are happening at the same point in time, assuming you give them all the right clues?
There's a variation of this theme that I think I remember seeing done. That's when events in chapters overlap in time. For example, chapter 1 may have the killer (POV) leaving the murder scene, chapter 2 may have the police (POV) entering just as he's leaving. Some overlap in time may be present between the two chapters. No problem right?
On the other hand, when doing a flashback, it's recommended that past perfect tense be used at the start as a clue that it's a flashback.
