I have one character as my MC but I've been including a lot of a second character's pov in as well. It's almost an equal amount for each and I don't have any rhyme or reason as to when or why I change aside from who's pov fits the scene best. Any advice? Can this be done without looking sloppy? Thanks!
Point of view is one of those techniques that I think a lot of writers aren’t sure exactly how to use, including myself sometimes. Because there are so many options, it’s hard to decide what’s best for your story. I don’t think there’s necessarily a wrong way to go, but there’s certainly things to consider.
How many points of view do you really need?
When you’re writing a scene from a point of view different than your main character, is your main character present? If you only had one point of view, would the scenes still be able to happen? What I’m basically asking here is if your secondary point of view character is off on a different adventure/story/event than what the main character is doing? Are we getting to see something we wouldn’t be able to see if you were only using one point of view?
If the answer is no, I would strongly reconsider using multiple points of view as a tool to see other perspectives on a scene. While it can be interesting to see how Character B views a scene versus Character A, it can get superfluous if that is the only reason we’re seeing this point of view.
If the answer to these questions is yes, read on.
Are these other POV scenes important to your story?
You mention that you have one main character, but if your other characters have equal distribution of point of view, then it becomes harder to distinguish that main character as being so. You might have a key plot in mind that your main character is driving, but when Character A has the same number of POV scenes as Character B, a reader will look at Character B’s scenes and wonder what importance their scenes will play in the overall plot as well. And if their scenes are merely a window into that character’s past, personality, or development, or if they’re part of a subplot that doesn’t play a part in the main conflict, then those scenes could also become extra content that your story doesn’t really need.
If your secondary characters’ point of view scenes are important to the main plot driving your story, and they have an equal number of scenes to your main character, I would actually argue then that these aren’t secondary characters at all! I would interpret this as an ensemble character cast.
Does this mean all characters have equal importance?
Not necessarily. What it means is that each one has some importance. One key decision they make, or several small decisions, impacts the main plot/conflict of your story. If you took this character out of your story, it would be missing something, and you’d have to adjust for their absence for altering other plot events or character decisions. They would be difficult to replace, essentially.
If the character could easily lift right out, it doesn’t mean you should eliminate the character. It just means that you may not need to be telling the story from their point of view. It would make them more of a minor character that might be great for moral support for the other characters, but they don’t truly impact the plot.
If after all this, you think it’s still crucial to your story to include these separate points of view, then let’s talk about those considerations.
Choosing point of view for a scene
You’re actually on the right track with how you’re choosing point of view. You should be choosing who best fits the scene. Some authors like to have a kind of “pattern” or “cycle” of point of view characters, as a way to keep it consistent, but I think both methods have their own challenges.
This is if you have 4 characters, and you just cycle through them in the same order for each scene/chapter. Sometimes, depending on your story, this works great, but you have to do a lot of plot manipulation to make sure that the character whose “turn” it is matches up with a scene their point of view is appropriate for. And that’s not easy. I think this really only works with 2, maybe 3, point of view characters. It worked great for Marie Lu in Legend, where she alternated between the two main characters’ points of view.
If your story is the type of plot that unfolds with a very precise order of scenes that can’t really be rearranged, then you should write the scenes in the proper order, and choose the point of view character that works best, regardless of how many times you’ve already used the character. Don’t add a filler scene just so you can use a character’s point of view that isn’t present in your next logical scene simply because “it’s been a while for that character.”
Deciding “what’s best” is really up to you! Sometimes it can be better to choose the character who will be most emotionally impacted by the events of the scene, but sometimes, if the event is truly devastating, it can be more effective to use another character’s point of view and have them describe/explain the devastation from a somewhat objective point of view. Sometimes a character might have a better ability to rationalize through a complex problem, so it would be more effective to use their point of view and describe their thought process in detail, as opposed to relying on the character’s dialogue to convey it to the other character.
So it really does depend on your story, your writing preferences, and ultimately your characters.
I personally recommend this second method, as opposed to the point of view cycle, especially if writing with multiple points of view is something you haven’t had a lot of practice with. It’ll help you get better at differentiating between scenes that drive your plot and support character development vs. scenes that serve only to develop character. Scenes should really do both.
One last note on this, because it’s something simple that can trip a lot of people up. Do you need to put the character’s name at the beginning of the scene to denote their point of view? If it’s first person, it’s definitely a good idea, since first person pronouns could be anyone, and while a reader might be able to figure it out from context clues and voice, you don’t want them wondering if they’re wrong or right. So for first person, I would say yes. Third person, it’s not so necessary. The character’s point of view you’re using should be the subject of most of the sentences in your first paragraph, so it should be easy for a reader to distinguish.
To the original asker, don’t worry so much about it looking sloppy! As long as your scenes aren’t filler, and as long as your characters’ actions are benefiting your plot, then write the point of view that works for you.
