Multiple Points-of-View

Say What?
Writing a novel with more than one point-of-view can be tricky. How can you juggle different personalities and motivations ā and somehow use them to tell a balanced, coherent and compelling story? How can you ensure that each character has their own āvoiceā (something that I find extremely difficult to achieve!)?
But does it make sense to tell your story from multiple points of view?
On one hand, you can offer different perspectives on a narrative which may greatly enrich the story. On the other, you may lose a sense of intimacy. After all, how does the reader know who to root for and care about?
Ask yourself who and when: Why is this character telling this part of the story? What insight or awareness does the character bring? Would this section be better served by writing it from a different characterās point-of-view?
We know that everyone is the hero in their own story, so each character must have his or her own arc. This means the character should have a conflict, whether external, internal or both, and a resolution.
Examples
The Girl on the Train (3 pov characters)
Girl, Woman, Other (12 pov characters)
A Song of Ice and Fire (Lots!)
Experience
I find that psychological novels lend themselves to being written using multiple points-of-view. In them, I can delve into the human psyche and reveal inconsistencies, conflicting thoughts and dark motivations. We can explore the truth from different perspectives. We can judge the reliability of each characterās narrative.
Two of my psychological novels are written using three points-of-view. The other has ten points-of-view (inspired by reading Girl, Woman, Other). Why did I use ten? My aim was to explore a range of vastly different experiences of patients on a psychiatric ward, but Iām not sure I did this successfully. One reason is because I struggled to use a different voice for each character. Another is that the reader may find it difficult to keep track of whoās who, what their arc is and why they should care. Thereās also the question of depth ā has each character been given enough space in the novel to fully share their story?
Of course, Bernadine Evaristo has proven that polyphonic books can be executed successfully. But, sadly, Iām no Evaristo.
Ā
Final Thoughts
Which books with multiple points-of-view have you enjoyed and why?
Have you written one? Why did you choose this structure and what was your experience of the challenges discussed?
On The Honest Authorsā podcast, Gillian McAllister once mentioned that she was asked, āDo you really think that?ā about something controversial sheād written in one of her novels….
Bear With Me! Okay, this is probably a weird analogy but this is how my (bird-brained!) mind works. So, in terms of the title question, Iāve thought long…
If you want to be traditionally published, the chances are that youāll need a literary agent. Their job is to sell your book to a publishing house and…
What Do We Mean by āPaceā And Why Is It Important? We often hear that books are fast-paced, slow burn or āsaggy in the middleā. In a nutshell,…
If you read my Christmas Snippets post, you’ll be aware that I suffered a psychotic episode in 2019. This was followed by a long period of anxiety and…
Port and Lemon and Dirty Jokes My nan was the type of woman who couldnāt walk to the shop without stopping at least three times along the way…
When I was eight years old, I auditioned for a part in my schoolās Christmas play, Christmas is Cancelled! Despite being a shy child, I loved singing and…
The Long and Short of It I enjoy writing short stories, which is a complete one-eighty compared to how I used to feel. I used to wonder how…
The Good Thereās so much to love about writing ā the excitement of that initial spark of an idea; the stimulation of the challenge to make it work;…
Giving Feedback The title of this post is a sentence thatās often used at the end of a fellow writerās feedback in the Lab, and I think itās…
Iām Fine Whenever I meet someone new, I try to learn their language. I donāt mean French or German; I mean things like what they convey without actually…
Well, it sort of is⦠Iāve been fascinated by dystopian fiction for many years ā any story which explores a dramatic change in the way of life for…
Out of the Mouths of Babes This post was inspired by a comment made by my eleven-year-old son. It was prompted by his question regarding what Iād hypothetically…