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This week: POV: Too Many Heads in One Scene Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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An Elf (written) Fantasy Newsletter
I look at the option of having more than one point of view in a scene and why readers may not care for such. Different thoughts, head hopping and the reflection on an old novel all come in play with this POV fantasy newsletter. |
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Since it's December and I wanted a new form of distraction... I mean, I have a new focus goal wise for which novels to work on, I decided to read over my first NaNoWriMo success. It's not fantasy but it's the first novel attempt of mine that made it to 50k. Have to admit, it's rough. Since done during NaNo, that is expected but it's also from 2008 and I've made a lot of writing progress since then. I happened to notice something in the novel that I have been asked about in the past and that is having different character POV in one scene.
I did not do it well in that first draft. Random bits of information were found that were not from the main POV character's perspective. Which is fine in a first draft but now I have to figure out how to rewrite and edit the thing so that those don't exist anymore because it's a one POV novel. Ah the fun of rewrites and edits.
While I'm going to edit out my little slips in pov, it is possible to do novels with more than one, so let's talk about those. In the past, the omniscient point of view was popular and came in handy because it allows the reader to see the thoughts of different characters without sticking to one for too long even though one may be the main focus a good part of the time. However, the popularity has decrease and far more common now is the limited point of view approaches. But to the actual question: Can you use different POV in one scene?
Possible, but there are variables. Here are a few options to consider:
1. Are you writing first person POV?
- If this is the case, I do not recommend having different pov in one scene or even one chapter. If doing a short story with multiple first person pov, know it will be hard work and some readers won't like how much you'll have to jump around to get all of the views involved. And definitely make sure to have some way to indicate when the POV changes. There needs to be enough space, asterisks, or something to give the reader a heads up that there is a change occuring, especially in first person because it is difficult to tell the different voices apart when every POV is "I". For novels, separate chapters works better though the one I read had a boy and a girl POV and the boy sounded like a girl part of the time, so know it's not easy even if separating by chapters.
2. Are you writing third person POV?
Then it might be a little easier for you to do more than one point of view. This is easier in part because people will get less confused even when there is a change in pov because it's more obvious when it's a different character. There are names involved and don't have the whole "I did this" type of situation. However, I still don't recommend just jumping between characters when it comes to a scene. It's possible to do but better to have some form of separation or to keep scenes to one pov only and for a number of reasons.
Now you may want to fight this notion. You may even think, but I have to do several pov or the reader won't know what is going on because we need to see the thoughts for this person and this person. I understand and it's a challenge because we want to do things that make for a strong story and I'm not against that. However, there is a reason why it's not preferred so consider this from a readers perspective.
When a scene has jumps in POV with no space or warning, it's easy for the reader to get confused. That's why having the space or separating helps, because it lets the reader know ahead of time there is going to be a change. And it's worse if the jump is short term and goes through a couple of characters all within the same scene.
Plus, what we might think important to convey may not be as needed after all. I read one story where the two main character pov were fine and often split by chapters though even when it changed during a chapter it wasn't too hard to tell. However, in the very beginning of the novel there was a couple of random moments where it slipped into the best friend's point of view and I did not care for that at all. Sure, I could see the author was trying to show us something about the main female character by adding in the thoughts of the friend, but it really wasn't needed and just pushed it into head hopping territory instead of helping set the situation up for what was going to happen.
Which brings us to the end and my main point if you made it past my rambling. While doing different viewpoints can come in handy, we also have to consider who might read it (including ourselves cause I read my own and don't like the head hopping I did back then). Jump around too much and you'll get the "head hopping" situation, which is often frowned upon because the confusion it causes and the fact it jumps without much warning. Fantasy is great for having more than one viewpoint in a story but even the big name authors will limit in the beginning and will write in a way that shows a change is about to occur when they do switch. So, don't be afraid to do different points of view, but also remember to give the readers something to indicate the change. That way you can have the best of both worlds.
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What are your views on multi-pov in one scene or chapter? Do you mind head-hopping or does it bother you as a reader?
Last month, I discussed the use of music and creating playlists for stories. Here are some of the comments sent in for that one:
Comment by Elle - on hiatus 
I love listening to classical music and film scores when writing stories (lyrics distract me) and have created a generic 'writing playlist' on Youtube, but for some reason listening to Pink Floyd always inspires me when writing poetry.  I loved the addition of music playlists to NaNo Prep - an awesome idea, if also a great way to procrastinate. 
Comment by Siobhan Falen 
As I'm reading this, I found myself nodding my head in agreement. It's one of the number one reasons why I LOVE spotify. I have like nine playlists that hearing songs from them makes me need to write on the novel that's connected to them. Music is extremely important to me and I actually have a really hard time writing in silence. I enjoy soundtracks, like both 300 movies, Flight of the Phoenix, Silent Hill, etc., but I also love disjointed sounding tunes like you'd heard from Android's Lust and Johnny Hollow, or pretty much everything I've heard of Abney Park. Anyway, it tickled me reading about someone else with a musical interest :D.
Comment by Joto-Kai 
Usually, not! If I had the right playlist, it would be fantastic. In the past, I've found that songs end too soon, and there are too few appropriate ones for a writing session. Probably because I'm 95% about the words.
I think it might be good to have playlists for given characters, especially if your software can load multiple playlists into 'now playing.' For the current character, I think it might be, "She's always a woman" and "Somewhere, they can't find me."
A couple of foreign language tunes that have the right tone... Anyhow, thanks for the idea! I need something to do while I'm trying not to look at the blank screen! 
Thanks everyone and happy writing.
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Fantasy: December 10, 2014 Issue [#6707]
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