In a post on DIY MFA, Jennifer Craven shares five tips for writing stories with multiple points of view. Multi-POV stories “can be complicated to get right, and you run the risk of creating a story with one-dimensional characters that just skim the surface,” she says. “Readers want depth—they want to get to know each character, especially if the character is given the honor of being the ‘voice’ of the story.”
So, how can you do it? Craven’s tips include:
- Stick to one POV per chapter. Avoid “head hopping” by letting only one character speak in each chapter. “If you don’t want to separate by chapter, you can switch POV within the chapter as long as you give a paragraph break and start a new scene to clearly define the shift,” Craven says. “This is a bit trickier and takes more skill—probably best for those who have written multi-POV before.”
- Give each POV a distinct voice. Ensure that every character has a unique voice, using differing tones, inflections, and language. You don’t want your characters to blend together or spend time with a boring character.
- Choose the primary POV. Even in multi-POV books, writers often consider one character the primary voice of the story. This character typically opens and closes the book with their own chapter and may be the character who embodies or gives voice to your theme. This isn’t a hard rule, as some writers divvy up their novels equally and others may give a POV character only a relatively few chapters. It’s also ok if you don’t choose a primary character from the outset. You might decide this only as you finish a first draft.
- Don’t have TOO many POVs. Multi-POV doesn’t mean every character gets a POV chapter. Even George R.R. Martin keeps a few characters in the background. As you’re writing, ask yourself if each POV is really necessary or if the character’s actions could be blended in with another character’s perspective.
- Choose which POV should tell the scene. There’s a good chance some of your scenes could be told from more than one POV. Unfortunately, you have to pick one to communicate the main point. Decide whose POV is most important to your novel, considering what has come before and what will come after this scene.
