mixing points of view...?

Pretty much anything is viable if done right. And you won't know if it's right until you try it.

Out of curiousity though, why first person for the prologue and third for the rest of the book? Is there something really unique about that section that has to be told first person?

I love telling things first person but if I'm making a switch between first to third I would usually go the other way. (i.e. third for prologue, first for book.) But that's just me.

I'm totally and strictly a third person kind of gal! haha - but I've read books done this way...one POV for prologue one for the rest. Actually, the last book I finished switched throughout the entire book from first to third, and the method worked with the story.

I agree with the above statement - you won't know unless you try it, but if you do it right, it can work.

I just finished reading "Partner in Crime" by J.A. Jance. She wrote the book in alternating 3rd/1st POV and the effect (on me) was jarring, to say the least. I like her writing. Her plots are well-conceived, her writing is concise and her characters are rounded.

But she started the novel in 3rd. A couple of chapters later one began with "I ... " , which took me out of the story. I had to stop, back up and figure out what she had done with the switch. For the rest of the novel the change from 3rd/1st/3rd...etc, was just as disconcerting.

There was no rhyme or reason for the switches. They were not done on an alternating chapter basis, just sort of thrown hodge-podgely here and there.

The bottom line is that unless the switches are done both artistically and consistently in a fashion that moves the story forward, the story-telling might suffer.

Best to think the switches through completely.

JMHO.

angeliz2k said:

In order to give the reader certain info and in order to establish conflict, I've been thinking of adding a prologue. That's not exactly revolutionary, obviously, but I'm thinking of putting it in the first person where the rest of the story is third-person. The voice may or may not break in two times between sections of the story and again, very briefly, at the end.

Does this sound viable?

Click to expand...

It's been done before, many times. If you do it right, anything can work. If you have it in a prologue and at the end... what you have is essentially a "frame."

My prologue and epilogue are in third, and the rest of the book is in first. There's a reason for it, and I like how it goes full-circle. I say try it.

angeliz2k said:

In order to give the reader certain info and in order to establish conflict, I've been thinking of adding a prologue. That's not exactly revolutionary, obviously, but I'm thinking of putting it in the first person where the rest of the story is third-person. The voice may or may not break in two times between sections of the story and again, very briefly, at the end.

Does this sound viable?

Click to expand...

The POV business can work, handled properly, as others have said. But I'd be wary of your initial statement: "In order to give the reader certain info . . ." If that's your main motivation for the prologue, it sounds to this potential reader like a temptation to info-dump.

caw

I did that with one of my novels to set the tone I wanted. The prologue was short - not 600 words - and I made it chapter one to avoid the stigma of a "prologue." I think what helped me was dividing the book into part one and part two. So you have chapter one, then a blank page which says part one and its title, then it moves to third and stays there. In my case, the first person portion is her grown and reminiscing. The book opens when she's fifteen, so this gives you a tiny peek at where the story goes.

So long as you're not "head-hopping" do what works for the story.

I've several books with alternating chapters with first and (multiple) 3rd person POV. I make it clear from the chapter heading who's got the mic, though.

maestrowork said:

It's been done before, many times. If you do it right, anything can work. If you have it in a prologue and at the end... what you have is essentially a "frame."

Click to expand...

Yep, also called "bookends".

I have a friend who wrote a novel (presently on an agent's desk) that uses a first person voice for the first and last chapters and two "entr'actes" (to use the theatrical term) at one-third and two-thirds of the way through the novel. This sounds a bit like what the original poster is talking about--although the intent of my friend was to provide sort of a Greek chorus of commentary, not information.

Wow.

I've been um-ing and ah-ing over posting pretty much this same question, but held off because I knew the majority of answers would be "If you can make it work, then go for it."

My situation is this - main character is written in first person, a secondary character is written in third person. The majority of chapters are the main character, with sparodic chapters from the secondary. It doesn't bother me, but I am the fool writing it, so my opinion doesn't really count, in a sense.

The only time I've come across this was James Patterson's When the Wind Blows. It was a novelty when I began the book but just blended in as I went along. And it was certainly easier on the old noggin than The Time Traveller's Wife, where both main characters are in first person. (btw, loved this book, but it was still a little iffy at times regarding who's first person you were with.)

I know I've personally done the right thing by this story, using first and third person. All can I hope is that the story itself is good enough.

Cheers, Lisa.

It works. The first example I can think of is "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" by Gregory Maguire. The prologue and epilogue are written in first person, some many years after the events that take place between them. Of course, in this case, it's done as a final twist in the story because the person you assume to be the narrator isn't who you believe it is, but still...it's quite effective. It's not jarring, because I think most readers allow for a difference in tone, point of view, something when reading the prologue.

You knew all along what you would hear -- you admit as much! So you must be punished by hearing it again!

It works if it works.