posted
I am working on a novel (first thirteen in F&F) that is largely a study in how different characters in different critical positions (authority, caught in the middle, stands to benefit, etc) react to a sudden and cataclysmic change in their society. I originally wanted to follow just my protagonist, then I toyed with the idea of creating more of an ensemble cast and having several distinct but interwoven stories. I've settled on having one protagonist, but with several other major characters whose actions I'd like to follow.
I am the sort of reader who gets annoyed with authors who have a secondary character tell a main character what had been happening contemporaneous to their own actions, or worse still, have the MC just happen upon something that leads them to realize what must've been going on. I often feel cheated because as the reader I wasn't allowed to watch those events unfold and experience the nice dramatic tension (not to vent but that's one of my biggest gripes with the Harry Potter books). Many of the fantasy/sci-fi books I've read have had at least flashes to the antagonist, if nobody else, but how much flashing around is too much - as a rule of thumb? (or is there no such rule to be made?)
posted
There are only a couple of rules of thumb that are generally but not universally accepted that I know of. You never change PoV midscene, only with a new scene or chapter. You never have only one scene from a character's PoV. If the reader hears from one once, they want to hear from them again. And I have been told you should never leave the fate of a PoV character as a loose thread. The reader wants to know what happened to them.
Personally I think having more than a few PoV characters is annoying and keeps me from growing to care about the characters, but that's strictly opinion. And I'm sure the rules of thumb are frequently broken.
posted
I guess, like always, the best rule of thumb is, "make it really good". Perhaps you should just use as many POVs as you need, and see how that works.
Like all things, different readers will respond differently. I don't mind lots of shifting around, but some people do. "Gone to Soldiers", by Marge Piercy (which I loved) has ten POV characters, no more than one chapter per POV (and in one case, several POV's in one chapter). In several cases it is interesting to see a character from other people's POV after knowing them from only their own POV.
I also really like "The Briar King" by Greg Keys, which has many POV characters. I think it breaks all the rules of thumb mentioned by JeanneT. In once case, one is left mid battle and you don't get back for like fifty pages. Some people hate that sort of thing, and I understand why. But somehow I really like it (or at least, I liked that book). If there is more than one thread that I can't wait to get back to, I know the author is doing something right.
posted
One rule of thumb I came across is to only have as many POV characters as you need to tell you story.
I have three POV chars in my WIP. I started out with two, then realized I needed the third.
I think in juggling POV, one always has to be conscious of the effect switching will have on the story, and to make sure to keep a tight story. Don't be tempted to digress too much; everyone (as in all your characters) has a story to tell, but it doesn't mean it should be told.
As for the MC learning about actions through anecdote--again, I think you have to keep a good handle on what's driving your story. If a scene is that essential to your MC, then you should probably play it out in the MC's POV.
posted
I'll also add I have seen books switch POV mid-scene, and pull it off. They are hovering between omniscient and 3rd limited anyway, so it's a matter of zooming into a character's head.
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posted
Widdershins by Charles DeLint does an amazing job of shifting POV every chapter (and sometimes within a chapter). Some chapters are 3rd person limited, some are 1st, and the 1st person chapters are different characters! Each chapter title is the name of the character(s) whose POV you're in. Oh, and some chapters are present tense, some past. It sounds absolutely insane, but the story flows so well, he pulls it off without disorientation. It's tight, with the story always moving forward and woven together.
BUT... DeLint is a very experienced writer, with a lot of sales under his belt. From business and craft perspectives, I'd be careful about getting too creative early on. I guess it depends on the requirements of your story.
posted
I think the best rule is to only have as many PoV's as you need. With my recent WiP, I started with two. They each saw and did things the other wouldn't witness. As the story progressed, there were a few events that needed to be shown, or it would make some things vague. So I added two more PoV's before the end. When I go back through, I'll be looking at each PoV to see if I really need it, or if I could work around it.
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posted
I wanted to touch on annepin's last comment:
quote:If a scene is that essential to your MC, then you should probably play it out in the MC's POV.
This may be splitting hairs but I am pretty new as a "writer", despite having written quite a bit for my own pleasure. Naturally, if the MC is present in the scene, then I'd stick to my MC unless I had a darn good reason not to. But what of vital scenes where the MC is not/cannot be present yet the action involved is significant to the plot? Obviously there's got to be some discretion involved, I can't go tracing the life story of every tree in the forest (though that might be an interesting book...hmm).
But at the same time, it seems a bit shabby (IMHO) to have the MC arrive at a beseiged city and be told by a secondary character. "Well, the king's dead, the invaders have captured the Orb of Infinite Snarkiness, and your love interest has been thrown in jail by your evil twin posing as yourself. Have fun, mate!"
As a reader, I'd feel pretty cheated in not being told that story from one of the involved characters' POV unless those events are actually quite boring and/or not central to the real plot (ie: inventing the ultimate retort that will silence the invader's infinite snarkiness)...
quote:But what of vital scenes where the MC is not/cannot be present yet the action involved is significant to the plot?
None of these POV rules are hard and fast. It is probably very important for an amateur to stick to them pretty closely--however, if you have darn good reason to change POV, finding a smooth way to do it is probably okay.
I just finished Brighton Rock by Graham Greene (whom I would call a master), and he switched back and forth between the primary and secondary characters in the same scene because it was important to know what was going on in their heads, and Greene did it quite deftly. If you really want to go nuts, read some P.G. Wodehouse. He is constantly switching POVs within a scene. (Leave it to Psmith is one example.) And it works. A Nobel Peace prized work by Toni Morrison is Beloved, and she switches between several POVs sometimes within the same paragraph.
What is true with all of these cases are: 1) They had good reasons for the POV switches, and 2) The scenes were very well crafted.
So--don't do it if you are not willing to really spend some time to learn how to do it well (by studying those who do it well, and crafting the scenes thoroughly), but don't completely shut off your options, either. Sliding POV might be the *right* answer for a particular work or scene.
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I for one never have only one POV in my WIP and most books I like don't have only 1 either. I think sometimes it is a big gamble to have only 1 POV. For example, Robin Hobb writes in the first person most of the time. I loved her first three trilogies, Farseer, Liveships and Tawny Man, but hate her new trilogy, why? Because I can't stand her POV character. I like some of her secondary characters, but don't like the MC so hearing everything from his POV drove me insane. If she had been writing in third person I could at least wait for the changes of POV to give me a break from the MC.
Another author this applys to is Kelley Armstrong who also write first person and people like different books based on who the POV is.
It is like Wheel of Time by the late Robert Jordan. I never particuarly liked reading the POV of Mat, but I could read his parts because I knew the POV would change to a character I like sooner or later.
With my own work I think about the sitcom Friends, many said the sucess of the show as due to everyone being able to relate to at least one of the friends. I have six main POVs and those who have read my work have different favourite characters so I think I have created a good group to appeal to a wide audience. However all of my characters interact daily at least for the first book so they appear strongly in each other's storylines. Some books you just start liking a character and you get a new character who is half a world away, and you really want to know what happened to the first one and it take half a book for their stories to meet.
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