POV Character change

Finni · Jan 14, 2008

I am having a hard time making a decision with my novel and I would like some opinions on it.

My story spans about 15-20 years, but the important parts are at the beginning and end of those years. I can not get away with NOT telling what happens in the first few years.
I can do this two ways:
I can write the first part of the book from Character A's POV so the reader can see those years, then have Character B pick up the story in the second part (these characters are father/son, but the son hasn't been born yet when the first part of the book starts)
or
I can start the story during the last few years and have the father tell the son a story (so the first part of the book will be like a first person account of what happens during the first few years). The POV will be the son throughout except when his father is monologuing the story.

In the first option the MC will change along with the POV, which I am afraid to do to my reader, nevermind the editor!
In the second option I have that dreaded backstory/story-telling that I will have to start the story off with, but at least the MC will remain the same throughout the story.

I think the second one will work better also because in the story itself the son hears many different versions of the same events and sees how the story changes depending on perspective. But I am not sure. If I have the father start to tell the story in the first chapter will it hurt their bond with the MC at the beginning? Therefor making it hard to care for him when he is going through sadness and loss after hearing the story??

What are your thoughts about changing POV and MC? What are your thoughts about starting a story off with a story within the first chapter or two?

cyberwraith · Jan 14, 2008

Finni,
I think that the more active your voice is, especially in the case of a tale with a lot of important back story, the better. Action, in the sense of the story being in real time and moving, is what makes it interesting to the reader so you would not lose your reader (or editor) if you started the book with an event as it happens and later let it be talked about/reflected upon by a character who wasn't there.

Take, for instance, the device of having Harry Potter drop into memories via the pensieve. He is there, in real time, watching what happened 50 years before he was born. Much more interesting than Dumbledore blabbing on at him in the comfort of his office, right?

From your description, if I understood you, it seems like your story will necessarily have characters reflecting upon these events, explaining these events, etc. The reader would much prefer to have witnessed them for herself first before being given points of view. This will, I think, create a much needed energy ("No way! I KNOW character X didn't do it!" Oh but yes he did . . . ) between the reader and this twice-told tale.

My two cents. Now I go forage for some lunch.
V

nessam · Jan 14, 2008

I agree the second device is better. An mc change after the first couple chapters looses me completely as a reader. Also consider the mc could read some letters or journals by his father besides just the basic story telling. I find sometimes when the back story is broken up by real time events it can be more compelling as the reader tries to figure out what happened or is going to happen.

FennelGiraffe · Jan 14, 2008

Another structure that comes to mind from your description is to alternate chapters from the father's POV in the past and the son's POV in the present. It would be written as two separate storylines--if you look at only the father's chapters together they would form a chronological story, and the same with only the son's chapters. It works best if there are common elements tying the two together. One example would be after a chapter in the past with the father, the next chapter shows the son dealing with the consequences of what happened in the father's chapter.

Have you thought about something like that?

David I · Jan 14, 2008

The National Book Award winner "Three Junes" moves through three major changes of POV, and it would be hard to say which is the protagonist. (Also does interesting things with tenses.)

Be thou not afraid. Unless you're carving your stuff on cuneiform tablets, you can always redo it if you don't like it.

JustGo · Jan 14, 2008

Sounds like a complicated dilemma, and I'm not sure if I'd follow the advice I'm about to give under many circumstances (from genre to the specifics of your story) that may already exist. Hopefully it fits the situation.

I personally like the first idea. It sounds, however, like giving the reader the gospel truth right off the bat is a bad idea - you probably want them doubting every word to add to the tension and excitement. I'd probably have the entire situation with the father take place in the first chapter (assuming it wouldn't make it an elephant among mice compared to other chapters), then have the second chapter start with "At least, that's how my father tells it." Or something a bit less awful than that.

People telling stories in fiction just never worked that well for me - Stephen King's novella The Library Policeman has 37 pages straight of a man telling two people his background. It was too well-spoken to actually be someone really speaking, but it would've been terrible if it was more realistic, so the whole thing was just awkward. I recommend avoiding that method.

In any case... good luck!

Finni · Jan 14, 2008

Great feedback, thank you all. I have to think about all of this.

I wish I could have the son find old writings, but the story is set 10,000 years ago. Writing wasn't invented yet.

The son needs to hear about something that happened before he is set in motion. What he hears, the secret his father has to tell him, compells him to move...its that 'no-turning-back' point. But if the son doesn't hear the things that lead up to the secret he (and the reader) will be missing something very important for the ending.

The alternate chapters is something I will think about and if I can find a way to tell the story using that method. That might work, but the father and son have so much in common the reader may end up confused and hating my guts.

The father is the village's Storyteller. I don't know if that matters to this discussion. He is a master of it. So when he tells this story it isn't going to be a typical monologue. He is going to suck his son (and the reader) right into the story.

NicoleMD · Jan 14, 2008

Flamenco Academy by Sarah Bird did a very effective job at weaving in the present, the past in form of a story, and what actually happened in the past, which sounds a lot like you're describing. The story is interspersed throughout the narrative, and not given all at once, but the reader gets to discover the story and put together the truth as the MC does. I guess it depends on how long your story is, and how important it is to the novel. If it's really long, it might be good to break it up. Also, if you want the story to not be forgotten by the end of the novel when things all come together, you might considers spacing it out through the story as well.

Nicole

Finni · Jan 15, 2008

Thank you Nicole, I just ordered the book so I can study her technique.
Anyone else have suggestions on books that use this technique successfully for backstory? Telling a story about a past event that is relevent to the main story?

JustGo · Jan 15, 2008

Finni said:
...the story is set 10,000 years ago...

...The father is the village's Storyteller. I don't know if that matters to this discussion. He is a master of it. So when he tells this story it isn't going to be a typical monologue. He is going to suck his son (and the reader) right into the story.

That's the sort of circumstance I was thinking of. I've changed my mind - go with the father telling him the story.

Keyan · Jan 15, 2008

Finni said:
Thank you Nicole, I just ordered the book so I can study her technique.
Anyone else have suggestions on books that use this technique successfully for backstory? Telling a story about a past event that is relevent to the main story?

May not be quite what you're looking for, but Ellen Kushner does something interesting with Thomas the Rhymer. Thomas is the MC throughout, but Section 1 is told from the POV of a man in whose house he shelters; Section 2 is told by Thomas himself; Section 3 is told by the woman of the same house; and Section 4 by Thomas's wife. The sections are in chronological order, and it's all about Thomas anyway, so the changing POVs aren't confusing.

Shweta · Jan 15, 2008

And Iain MacDonald does something interesting in King of Morning, Queen of Day. The book is in three sections, different generations, different MCs/POV characters, entirely. You only find out at the end how they all tie together.

Finni · Jan 15, 2008

Thank you all!! This has helped a lot!! I feel confident enough to move along with the changes I'v made. Thank you JustGo!
And I will have some books to study if I get the jitters again.

(I love this site)

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