How to Write a Good Story

Janice Hardy on Multiple Point of View Characters

Multiple Point of View Characters

(By Janice Hardy)

Multiple points of view offers advantages that a single point of view can't provide (be it first or third person). It allows you to follow multiple characters, show events happening in multiple locations, show comparisons, and tell the parts of the story a single POV isn't privy to.

However, there are also pitfalls the single POV doesn't face. Multiple POVs means multiple storylines, and it's easy for each POV character to suddenly feel as if they have their own book. Several storylines can become a mish-mash of plots that don't connect well, or don't do any of the storylines justice because there's not enough time to flesh out all those plots.

Some things to remember if you're writing multiple third person point of view:

Your Characters Aren't in This Alone

Keeping an eye out for whose story affects the protagonists' story will make it a lot easier to see how various storylines fit together. It's not just about a few characters having an adventure, it's about how those adventures create people and situations that are going to collide at some point and resolve your core conflict. Maybe it'll be for the good, maybe it won't, but it'll be interesting.

- What does this character need from the other POV characters?

- How do these POV storylines affect each other?

- Where are the conflicts between the POVs?

- Where do they overlap or interact?

- Are the POVs aware of each other?

They Can Help Each Other, Even if They're Not Close

Call it the butterfly effect, but if one character does something in one place, that can affect a POV character in another location. And watching all those separate strands slowly braid themselves together is a great way to hook the reader. Even if readers can't see what the connections mean yet, they'll see the effects happening and will eagerly anticipate how they'll all relate.

- What happens in this POV that will affect the other POVs?

- What happens in the other POVs that affects this POV?

- What actions hinder another POV?

The Bigger Picture Affects More Than Just One Character

Events have far-reaching consequences that can help and hinder your POVs. One thing can force everyone to change their plans, which is an effective way to nudge them all toward a similar goal or story arc. It can also reinforce that this isn't several stories in one, it's several characters working toward one larger goal.

- What actions are critical to the core conflict and plot?

- What pieces are resolved in each POV?

- Who is responsible for resolving the core conflict?

- How do the other POVs help? (or hinder)

Multiple POVs can tell rich stories, but they can also try to do too much in one novel. Make sure your cast of characters are all working toward the same goal (even if one of them is working to stop that goal). They can all have different ways of getting there, but the core conflict affects them all.

Do you write in multiple POVs? What snags have you run into? What benefits have you found?

P.S.

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