Hatrack River Writers Workshop   
my profile login | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Hatrack River Writers Workshop » Forums » Open Discussions About Writing » Multiple VPC

   
Author Topic: Multiple VPC
ChrisOwens
Member
Member # 1955

 - posted      Profile for ChrisOwens   Email ChrisOwens         Edit/Delete Post 
I know it's hard to do, The First Five Pages encourages new writers to stick to one viewpoint character.

Then again, movie/television writers have it all. They can introduce many new characters, show the same scene from many viewpoints. It would be nice to aquisition this from them.

Is it bad form in the first thousand words to introduce three viewpoint characters, flipping from one to the other?


Posts: 1275 | Registered: Mar 2004  | Report this post to a Moderator
BuffySquirrel
Member
Member # 2780

 - posted      Profile for BuffySquirrel           Edit/Delete Post 
I don't know about bad form, but I see nothing wrong with having multiple POVs in principle. However, 300 odd words isn't much for the reader to get to know the characters. If the readers can't get a start on identifying with POV characters, they may not read on.
Posts: 245 | Registered: Aug 2005  | Report this post to a Moderator
Robyn_Hood
Member
Member # 2083

 - posted      Profile for Robyn_Hood   Email Robyn_Hood         Edit/Delete Post 
Sometimes you never know until you try. While sticking to one POV character is a good rule of thumb,there are times when you can and should fly in the face of convention. Three POVs is a lot for 1000 words, but it isn't impossible. Write it. See how it reads. See how readers respond. You may find, after writing the multiple viewpoints, that you really don't need them.
Posts: 1473 | Registered: Jul 2004  | Report this post to a Moderator
Survivor
Member
Member # 213

 - posted      Profile for Survivor   Email Survivor         Edit/Delete Post 
A picture (in this case, a shot from any given camera) is worth a thousand words. Movies typically don't introduce more than a couple of major characters in any given shot. In fact, if you pay attention to such things, it is only one character per shot, even though another major character may also be visible for the first time in that same shot.

Take that with a grain of salt, though. Movies are not books. Books are not movies. I'm just pointing out that movies don't really do what you're considering.

Looking at it from what I've seen in literature, it isn't bad form, it's just difficult to do well.


Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999  | Report this post to a Moderator
   

   Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Hatrack River Home Page

Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2