After reading Flipped a couple of weeks ago, I've been thinking a lot about how I related to books with multiple perspectives. So I thought I would write a post about it! There are three main things I've noticed about myself as a reader of books with multiple perspectives, which I can and have applied to my writing. I hope this is interesting (if you're a reader) and helpful (if you're a writer). I would be fascinated to hear which of these things you relate to, and which are different from how you read! (And yes, all the pictures in this post are totally random--I just wanted you to have something to look at, because blocks of text are intimidating. XD)
One of the most interesting things I've noticed in myself when reading books with multiple perspectives is that whoever the first perspective is, I feel most attached to. Read that again. It's not necessarily always true--if there's a prologue from the villain's perspective, I obviously don't feel attached to them. But in 9 cases out of 10, the first perspective character is the one I attach to, the one I want to see most of the time, and the one I hold out for during the other (now more boring, because they're not my favorite) POV(s). For instance, in Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen, even though a lot of people have said that they didn't like Bryce much, he was my favorite, partially because his POV came first. I don't know if this holds true for everyone, so writers, perhaps take this with a grain of salt, but the lesson I've taken away from this, especially in my co-writing project, is choose your first perspective wisely.
For me as a reader to buy in to multiple perspectives, and to mitigate the first-character-speaking factor, each voice must be different. As a reader, I want to be able to tell who is talking without going back to the beginning of the chapter to look at the heading. There are essentially two ways to do this:
1. Really unique voices in terms of writing style. For instance, different characters use different slang, or one writes in poetry and one in prose, etc.
2. Having characters be at different events or in different time periods. For instance, following two different quests, or two characters who have their own lives and see each other occasionally.
If either one of these things is not done, the book gets tedious quickly, because I can't attach to either character--they're too similar--AND I have to keep flipping back and forth to figure out which character is which. One of the most excruciating cases of this was a book called The Rule of One by Ashley and Leslie Saunders. Not only were the characters on the same "quest", they were twins, meaning their voices were so similar that if they didn't mention each other in their chapters, it would seem like a single POV. As a writer, I've learned that to have a successful multiple POV story, I have to make characters either have different voices, or witness different events.
Generally, as long as the multiple perspectives have different voices, I'm good with up to four (occasionally five) perspectives. However. More than that--it's a tossup whether I will remember what on earth was going on with Character A when we get back to him/her after reading about Character E. One of the most potent examples of this (which I still remember after a year and a half!) is Jill Williamson's King's Folly. As much as I have loved a lot of Jill Williamson's other books...King's Folly was jumping from POV to POV and just...leaving you in the lurch...about several characters? I'm pretty sure we saw some of the POVs once and never again? And did they really add anything? I didn't think so. I ended up DNFing partially because of that, but also partially because it was getting a bit too creepy. So: too many characters may be fun for the author, but probably confusing for the reader! Pare it down as much as possible.
Do you get most attached to the first POV? Have you ever written a multiple-POV manuscript all on your own? How many POVs can you tolerate in a book? I'm curious!
I really appreciate these tips because right now I'm *coughcough* writing a book told in first person present tense and there are four POVs. Hehe. It's getting a little crazy. I miiight change it into something else if it gets too wild, but that's what it is for the first draft.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I'm the most attached to whoever starts the book! Also, it is the best when you can just read without paying attention to the chapter headers because you just can tell who it is by their distinct voices. One of my pet peeves is when we start seeing more from the characters that I don't care about as much as my favorites. I like it when it is even!
Fun post, Sam!
I'm glad they were helpful! Wow, that sounds really fun! But also yeah, a little crazy. :) I hope you have fun with it!
DeleteWhew, I'm glad that's not just a me-thing! It's definitely the best when each character has a distinct voice--although that's hard to pull off, I'm sure! Oh, that's definitely a pet peeve for me, too! Give me all the stuff from my favorite character. :)
Thank you!
Ooh, fun post idea.
ReplyDeleteI can't say that I usually get attached to whoever's POV is first. The order doesn't really matter to me.
I don't usually write multiple POVs, but one of my favorite series (The Heroes of Olympus) and my all-time favorite stand-alone book (The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls) use multiple POVs (although not first person), but those are both well-written. I think four or five is usually the limit with how many POVs I can take. It really depends on the author and book.
Thank you!
DeleteInteresting! So that might be just a me-and-MC-thing. :) Oh, I forgot about Heroes of Olympus! That's a really well-done multiple POV book. I haven't heard of Last Summer of the Garrett Girls, but I'll have to look it up! I agree, four or five is usually the limit, but it does definitely depend on the book!
Quite a few people that I know IRL prefer whoever's POV is first, so it depends on the person, I think. Definitely! I love that series. I think that's a rare exception to my four or five is the limit rule.
DeleteIt's a good book, if you're looking for a slightly fluffy but well-written contemporary. I read it this summer, and it's a very summer-y book, but it's not exclusive to summer.
Fair enough! "It depends on the person" is probably a safe thing to say. :) Yes, it's an exception to my limit rules, too.
DeleteOkay, cool!
I tend to always get most attached to the first POV too.
ReplyDeleteI've been tossing the idea back and forth of making my current WIP have multiple POV's but I can't decide.
Aha! So it's not just me and MC. :)
DeleteOoh, well I hope it goes well either way!
This is a very interesting topic, and I love your thoughts on it!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I personally get attached to whichever POV comes first, but I know several people who do. Also, once I read a book where I loved the main POV guy, and then he died in Chapter 2 and the rest of the book was from someone else's perspective and...yeah, you subverted my reader expectations there, but I also hated your book! So maybe don't kill your first POV character at the beginning of the book, idk!
I agree that multiple POVs can be terribly fun, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make them have distinct voices. Multiple POVs who sound exactly the same are actually one of the major things that make me give up on books. (Obviously you have more leeway in third person.)
And in general, I often read books that have three POVs where two, or even one, would have been better. I think writers should carefully evaluate every single POV and if it's necessary.
And I also think, just because a non-POV character is a fan favorite, doesn't mean he should get a POV in the sequel. Annabeth, one of my favorite PJ characters, moved significantly down the ranks when she got her own POV in Heroes of Olympus. Uncle Frank, my absolute FAVORITE character in the 100 Cupboards books, was...still my favorite in Dandelion Fire, but I wished he hadn't had an POV scenes. We always want to get inside our favorite characters' heads, but sometimes it's better to just see them from the outside. Like, I adore Rab Silsbee, but I'm SO glad we only ever saw him from Johnny's POV. Sometimes book characters are like friends - you love them even though you'll never see inside their heads, and maybe it's best that way.
Also villain POVs. So unnecessary and can we please STOP. They're always so boring and pointless. (I love N. D. Wilson's books, but this is my one gripe with them.) Antiheroes may be different (but even they often fall into the category I talked about in the previous paragraph), but straight-up villains DON'T NEED POINT OF VIEW SCENES. Sorry, this is like, my number one pet peeve. xD
Okay, this comment is way longer than I meant it to be, oops. But this is a really fascinating subject that I have strong feelings on, so yes. I loved hearing your thoughts and blabbing mine!
Thank you!
DeleteWell, I guess it varies from reader to reader! Wow, that sounds like a horrid surprise! Killing a POV character after two chapters...is probably not wise.
Ugh, I know! That makes me give up on books, too. But it is true that in 3rd person, there's quite a bit more leeway (partially because the narrator uses the character's name more, I think? So it's clear who we're following.)
So true! Multiple POVs are in vogue, but that doesn't mean ever book needs them. (In fact, very few books need them, imo.)
Oh, so true! I really enjoyed the Heroes of Olympus books, and in a lot of places the multiple perspectives were well done, but there were some characters who...really didn't need a POV. It's so true--we often learn a lot more about our favorite characters by seeing them from the outside! (Like Costis! His 'transformation' in TT from KoA is a function of his inner voice vs. what he's like on the outside.)
Argh, I know, villain POVs are the WORST! They don't need POV scenes! We're not supposed to sympathize with them! Stop it, people!
Please, no worries! Long comments are really fun for me. :) Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!