While you are choosing the point of view for your novel, it’s possible you’ll come to find that one narrator simply isn’t enough to build your story’s tension. Many books do without expressly naming each point of view and giving them equal page time, or you may want to switch between perspectives for each chapter or act of your story.
So here are some insights into why you may choose a single point of view or several for your story. In case you haven’t seen, this is our third installment of our Beginner’s Guide to Point of View. Previously, we discussed the merits and drawbacks of first, second and third person point of view as well as omniscient v. limited point of view to help you make an informed decision on what point of view is best for your novel.
Singular Point of View
This POV is probably the easiest to understand from the myriad of options available. Singular POV is when the entirety of your novel’s narration comes from one entity. Whether it is a third-person omniscient god with the ability to travel through time and space, an individual human speaking only their first-person experiences, or something in between, all of the narration comes from a lone perspective beginning to end.
Strengths Singular POV is a great clean up act for plot holes. Fewer viewpoints into your world mean fewer opportunities to make mistakes as an author. It’s also a great way to keep mystery alive. If your dream reader experience revolves around surprise, wonder, or thrill, it is most clearly kept on track for the right moment when the narrator unfolds it themself.
Weaknesses The weakness for this point of view is simply there is only one view into your world. This can mean a more shallow depth of story that can be achieved with several windows into it. Imagine if we were capable of reading Pride and Prejudice from both Elizabeth and William’s perspectives. We would certainly have a more clear view of the feelings for each character, but it would also give a different reader experience when their love is finally professed.
Multiple Points of View
Multiple points of view have the widest variation of any point of view choice from all of our beginner’s guide because you have to make these choices again and again for each perspective you choose. How many narrators will you have? Will each get the same amount of page time? What will be the structure to change narrators? Are they all first person, third person, limited, omniscient? You could have a single chapter from a second perspective with the rest from your primary character’s, or you could have a different point of view for each chapter of your novel. It can be hard to know what these choices will bring to the table.
Strengths The biggest strength for multiple points of view is always going to be variety: variety of storytelling techniques, variety of reading experiences available, variety of perspectives on the situation your plot is based in. It gives a lot of information to readers and can keep things interesting in the slower sections of your novel.
Multiple narrators also creates more opportunity for dramatic irony, the tension where the readers know something that the characters in the book don’t. By opening up their individual perspectives of the novel, your reader is the only one who has all of the information.
Weaknesses Multiple points of view come with their complications, however. There’s the opening yourself up to plot holes thing. There’s the difficulty of balancing which perspective should encounter which scene. And it’s inevitable that readers will have a favorite point of view, which can complicate building a strong connection with readers. All of these are possible to overcome when you write a captivating story, but none of them can go unaccounted for.
Tips for Writing Multiple POVs
Deciding to take on multiple points of view as an author can be a difficult task. Here are some tips to make it easier and build a better reader experience the first go around:
Have a Reason Why – For each scene of your novel, consider if it could conceivably come from your primary character’s point of view. Multiple points of view have risks and complications that may not be worth it unless you are sacrificing something crucial to your story by limiting your narrators.
Individualize Voices – A narrator is a major character in your novel. So as such, they must have a voice unique to their perspective. This is especially important with several narrators, as readers must have distinct experiences with each in order to tamp down opportunity for confusion.
Limit Your Cast of Narrators – Keep your number of narrators reasonable. Too many perspectives can cause whiplash for a reader, causing them to put the book down. If you wish to have a large cast of narrators, create a structure for how they are introduced to keep readers on board.
One POV per Chapter – Or at least one per scene. Multiple POVs in a single scene creates confusion. This practice is called head hopping, and it’s a bad habit to get into. This confusion, if in an important scene, can carry throughout the novel as scenes compound upon one another.
Choose a Main POV – By having a primary narrator that you introduce first, your readership will have a more innate connection to their story. This can create more narrative symmetry down the line and help make decisions on which scenes are most important to see from their perspective.
There’s a lot to consider when you’re considering multiple points of view for your novel. From structure to introduction to character balancing, the choices you make here can create a novel for the ages or kill your reader engagement levels. With such high stakes, seeking a session with a book coach can help narrow down your options or focus your existing pages and give you peace of mind.