Comments on: Perfecting that Pesky Point of View

By: Owen Banner

Owen Banner — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 11:14:42 +0000

I’m considering this problem in my next novel. My first, Hindsight (to be published as an e-book this summer) was written completely in the first person. For my second, I’d like to widen the scope. I’ve been going back and forth on how to effectively do this. I imagine I’ll be doing a lot of experimenting in the next few months. But, to add another option to your list of multiple POV books that you could check out, James Patterson wrote Cat and Mouse in this style. I thought it was very unusual, but cleverly done. His main character, Alex Cross, always speaks for himself. When he switches to scenes with his villains, he moves into the 3rd person narrator voice. Whenever Cross and one of the villains are in the same scene, he always uses Cross’ voice to tell the story.

By: Kate R

Kate R — Sat, 26 May 2012 04:24:41 +0000

Thank you for this. I just ran into this problem in a novel I started in first perosn but realized I have to shift POV at least twice to tell the story and make it move. This will be first novel attempting this, my first Epubbed novel is entirely third person but shift view points between scenes

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No Wasted Ink Writer’s Links « No Wasted Ink — Wed, 23 May 2012 01:17:13 +0000

[...] Perfecting that Pesky Point of View [...]

By: Amanda

Amanda — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:37:18 +0000

Thank you for this answer, Randy. I was going to send a similar question. My book is mostly first person, with several 3rd person sections. I will be reading Diana Gabaldon’s book that you suggested to see how it’s done well. Thanks again.

By: Tracy Campbell

Tracy Campbell — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:43:11 +0000

As a relatively new writer, your comments helped me immensely.
Thank you

By: David Benedict

David Benedict — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:40:17 +0000

Randy, thanks for your ideas for Sanhita and the rest of us.

Your comments are always so common-sense, and often cleverly humorous, too.

No wonder I keep reading your stuff.

By: David A. Todd

David A. Todd — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:01:57 +0000

In all the book reviews reviews I've read that were written by readers, I have never seen a comment about the reader being confused by POV shifts. Is this because those books were ALL written to avoid POV shifts, or is it because readers don't really care and don't get confused. No one gets confused reading the book of Acts when Luke shifts between 3rd person and 1st person. I believe the agent/editor emphasis on POV consistency and avoiding head hopping is misplaced. In other aspects of writing (such as working in back story) we are told to trust our readers, not to spoon-feed them. Shouldn't it be the same for POV? [Randy sez: If you mean POV shifts between scenes, I'm pretty sure all readers are comfortable with that, and at the very least, they're not confused. If you mean POV shifts within a scene (commonly called "head-hopping"), I'm not a big fan of that. I know that some readers like that, especially in romance novels, where they want to know what both the hero and heroine are thinking. However, my thinking is that you give your reader the best emotive experience when she slips inside the skin of one single character in any given scene. Many readers don't know the technical terms for POV and don't realize that the writer is head-hopping. They just know that they aren't connecting well with any one character, even if they don't know why.]

By: Sanhita Baruah

Sanhita Baruah — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:33:58 +0000

Wow! Thanks a lot Sir, your reply really boosted up my confidence. Thanks.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:38:47 +0000

Also the Bartemaeus trilogy. Three POV. Two of them are in third person, one is in first person.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:59:24 +0000

Just to add to books who mix POV D.J. MacHale Pendragons 10 Book Series is a book of First and Third. Great series by the way.