70 Deadly Wattpad Sins (The Book Of Evil Advice!)

Sin #16: Swapping POVs (AFK, BRB)

  FROM BOB'S POINT OF VIEW

  "Mary, I... I just got word, from Dr Thompson," I croaked to my wife. She stopped typing on her laptop, and glanced at me expectantly.

  FROM MARY'S POINT OF VIEW

  I couldn't imagine what Bob meant by that. Maybe I should've let him finish speaking. I wondered what else he had to say...

  FROM BOB'S POINT OF VIEW

  "The cancer, it's back... I'm not going to make it past Christmas." I buried my face into my hands, breaking down into tears. I promised Mary I wouldn't cry, not today.

  FROM MARY'S POINT OF VIEW

  I also buried my face into my hands and broke down into tears, despite promising Bob that I wouldn't cry. Especially not today. "No... No, this can't be—"

  FROM FRANK THE MAILMAN'S POINT OF VIEW

  "Dum de dum doo dum... What should I have for lunch?"

  What the... Where the heck did Frank come from?

  Straight from the sin bin, to kill your story's tension. Wattpad is facing an epidemic of omnipotent proportions, and it's finally time that we tore this one apart. Judging by the title, at least half of your butts should be clenched tight by now.

  Yes, a lot of us have read the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' books. Praise be to George R. R. Martin, and all that. However, it's because of him that multiple POVs are the latest craze for today's authors, trying to add a diverse cast of characters to their stories.

  Our problem begins when people try to mimic what they've seen from decorated novels, ripping out plots and techniques so that they can stitch them into their own stories. 

  Nine times out of ten, you won't end up with a masterpiece, but a Frankenstein-esque monster packed with filler and nonsensical drivel. 

  Believe it or not, adding POVs doesn't make your story instantly worth reading.

  Nuh uh! George always has a million POVs going on at the same time! The more you have, the more successful your book is!

  Dear God, that is so not true. Ignoring the sheer scale of that issue for now, let's talk about what POVs can actually do for you. How do you justify when your story needs more than one Point Of View?

  -The plot advances in two separate locations at the same time.

  -There are multiple sides of a conflict for the reader to empathise with.

  -No single character can reveal the complexity of your world.

  -Switching POVs after a revelation creates tension, foreshadows events.

  These can be taken to fit any context! How about when we shouldn't add POVs?

  Ooh, good one! I've been itching to complain about this for a while! If you use POVs in any of the following ways, shame on you and your house:

  -Choosing a certain character just because 'they were around at the time'. (No... just no.)

  -Introducing an unrelatable new POV character towards the end of the story.  

  -Switching POVs in the middle of a chapter, no matter how long it is. (Create a new one, pooplord.)

  -Making your POV character's scenes dependant on another POV character, offering no unique drama.  

  -Adding your 21st POV, creating a subplot that could've easily been weaved into one of your many existing characters.

  Blimey... No love lost there, then.

  You've got that right. This problem is multiplied by ten when you realise how many Wattpad stories are written in first-person. This relatable perspective is often seen as a starter kit for writers, and while it can work in small doses, first-person can absolutely slaughter the appeal of multiple POVs if handled sloppily.

  Think about it. You've got five, maybe six different characters all talking about themselves in the 'I did this, my hand waved' format. After a while, everyone's going to start sounding exactly the same outside of their individual thought processes.

  There's also the smaller, yet more annoying issue of people placing their POV disclaimers in giant bold letters: BY THE WAY, THE FIRST 1/15TH OF THIS CHAPTER IS WRITTEN IN THE VOICE OF KANYEON, 2-12TH BY ZAYNMAGEDDON, AND FINALLY 13-15TH BY SHEERANINA IN A DREAM SEQUENCE. ENJOY!

  ...That is, if they even bother telling you which POV they're using. Just display the character's name at the top or in the chapter title. No need to even bring up the immersion-breaking 'POV' word.

  There's a lot that can be done wrong with POVs, but don't let that stop you from using them. Some genres inherently work with this style, while others can only shine through one pair of eyes.

  In defense of POVs, multiple characters can provide several unique insights into the world you've created... but before any of that can happen, you need to make sure that you place your living cameras correctly. This means considering their location as well as their position in the timeline.

  It's amazing when you get to see a power struggle from both ends, the 'hero' and the 'villain' providing justified reasons for their decade-long feud.

  What isn't amazing, is being forced to watch the pre-feud from Frank the mailman's perspective as he wonders whether he can stomach pickles on his beefaroni sandwich today.

  POV characters have to be (a) relevant, (b) biased, and most importantly, (c) frequent. You ever heard the saying, 'too many cooks spoil the broth'? Well, it's true — how can your readers grow to like one character if you've got a million other POVs spliced between his/her chapters?

  To avoid this, defining major and minor characters in your story is a must (if you even need minor characters at all). You should avoid using any POV character only once, unless it's for a prologue/epilogue. 

  Major characters will dominate your roster, whereas minor ones will ideally have shorter chapters and mainly exist to foreshadow events. It depends on your preference, but I'd say this is a good jumping-off point.

----

  Phew, glad that I finally got all that off my chest. POVs are not some magical tool you can use to drop a character that you're bored with, nor do they act as free passes to write in whatever skewed tone you want.

  This is a complex mechanic, and unless you can match that wide dispersal of character detail in your story, you should stick to mastering one POV before bumping up the MC count. Often, this results in every character sounding exactly the same and the readers confusing one Average Joe for another.

  Now hang on! There's a whole other axis you forgot about here. Besides first and third person?

  Umm... No, not at all. You're lying. Shut up.

  But there definitely is! You're not even going to bring up Limited and Omniscient? What a noob!

  Urgh, fine... It's a two-for-one sin, guys. Hold onto your awesome point of view for next time!