Tips and Tricks for Juggling Multiple POVs

[Story_Marc]

I know lots of people like having lots of main characters and POVs. I also know how tricky this can get with ease. So, to help people wade through that sea, I made this. As always, I hope it helps out.

 

[melchi]

Someone once said on the forums that readers become less forgiving towards non mc pov. So I generally only do it for something that can be done quickly.

Though I can say I find myself in the mc is needed to keep me interested in a novel. My coworker told me that Joe Abercrombie was an amazing author but I dropped it after the third main character appeared. (I am fairly sure the name was called the blade itself)

Another one that I dropped was King's of Paradise. I saw glowing reviews of this book and checked it out. The first arc was very grimdark and what I was expecting was a redemption arc or at least a vengeance arc. What happened was someone the MC saved seemed to become a second MC. I kinda got this because letting someone live connects right back to the MC. However, a third MC appears who had no interaction with the first MC that the story started with. And the author is VERY verbose. Each of the 3 arcs is the size of a full novel.

One of the transitions ends with the prince doing his own thing on the island and then a two year fast forward for the 1st MC. It felt like the author got tired of writing him and the other two were more interesting. I felt betrayed, then I skipped thousands of words of princely arc to get back to MC and it just became kinda meh.

Pro Tip: If you find yourself wanting to skip ahead it is a sure sign that it is time to drop the novel.

But yeah, like Marc says, to a reader having someone seem like the main character than trying to switch it up feels like betrayal.

 

[Story_Marc]

Can do that, at the very least! There are examples where it works well and where it doesn't. Personally, I believe gradually easing into more characters and building off of things is the best way to go.

I know I've experienced this when trying to read The Stormlight Archive. I've tried time and time again, but everything is so divided at the start among other things that it drives me mad. When I'm spending time with characters I'm less invested in, I'm annoyed.

That said, it's easy to focus on stuff one might not like instead of what works and why. It's one reason I tend to focus more time on how to pull things off than trashing stuff, even if I know it'll get me fewer views. I'd rather focus on empowering others as best I can than tearing down stuff for not being perfect for me. I only wish I could've included more on that last part, but the video was already "long" (I try to limit myself to 10 minutes or less) and... I have so much to expand on there. I find structuring a fascinating subject. Well, then again, I find most things related to storytelling fascinating. It should be clear how much I genuinely love the art form at this point.