Physalian Writes

Published author, formatter, beta reader, and writing vlogger New Adult Queernormative Sci-Fi and Fantasy

[physalian-writes]

Hello There!

This is the new side blog off my main, dedicated solely to posts about writing, the writing process, publishing, and my own work. Slowly curating my blog for a more refined approach.

**7.30.25 - I am currently on hiatus for school and will be back mid-November.

Eternal Night of the Northern Sky

Three hundred years ago, the vampire covens of the North took the sun from the sky. In the frozen wasteland that remains, clans of the living cling to warmth in a way the vampires never predicted—hunting the undead down for the fire  in their veins. When Clan Maewag’s last blood slave takes their own life, Elias joins the hunting party in braving the surface. When the worst happens, Elias finds himself trusting a vampire to save him from the Freeze. Conflict brews between a coven thriving in a glittering utopia of equality and a coven enduring on blood slave servitude, with Elias trapped in the middle. What makes a monster in the sunless, frozen North, where survival demands Elias betray home, his people, and every truth he’s ever known?

Genres: New Adult, Queer Lit, Dark Fantasy

Available in ebook and paperback!

—

Tell Me How Long

Finley McCann is an aspiring marine biologist, spending her days watching the ocean she loves die before her feet as the world spins on unmoved to stop it. Three years after a chance meeting with a survivor of a species thought extinct for centuries, Finley stumbles on an opportunity to save a Mer, and shock the world into acting before it’s too late. Tell Me How Long is a twist on the modern merfolk myth, and what it takes to survive under the threat of humanity in the open ocean.

Genres: Adult, Contemporary Sci-Fi, Mystery

Available in ebook!

Some notable posts of mine:

How to make your writing less stiff (1-9)

Dialogue Tags (Ohhhhh)

Character Dynamics the world needs more of

10 more of those

5 more of those

Yet another 5 of those

Aaaand 3 more

My stance on generative AI

On Foreshadowing

On Pacing

On Fantasy Worldbuilding

[iphysalian]

While I have nothing against the concept of an unreliable narrator, very rarely have a I read a story, fanfic or original, where they successfully pulled off an entertaining unreliable narrator that you pick up on early enough to not see the entire story as a mess.

If I have to be told after I either quit or DNF "oh they were an unreliable narrator" you did not do your job in clueing in the reader that the narrator is full of shit. Readers go into a story believing the narrator as gospel because the narrator is the only POV we're (usually) getting.

I read a whodunit by an up-and-coming amateur writer, and her narrator was supposed to be unreliable through some sort of psychosis (which she did not suffer and knew no one who did) and the POV just kept blanking out pieces of the story. Problem was, as the only POV, we're inclined to believe the narrator over their accusers because we don't have the missing scenes they're being accused of forgetting. We're inclined, actually, to think the story is just an erratic tonal mess, and put the book down.

All it takes is "Narrator said this" followed up shortly thereafter (or previously) by the story directly contradicting them, for readers to go "oh, ok, he's full of shit, this'll be fun". Or tragic.

It's been thrown around a lot recently to excuse contradictory character development. Example being "flashback scene from one character's POV smearing the memory of what actually happened and how the other character acted" from a certain cartoon.

Works fantastic in Incredibles between the actual scene of "Fly home, Buddy" and Syndrome's recalling of that same moment, because we have both sides and know he's wrong.

You need proof that the story understands true north, otherwise the reader is flying blind.

"Unreliable narrator" is not your cheat code out of plot holes, it's a very useful plot device that's either done really well, or really poorly, there's not much in between.

[physalian-writes]

A tricky thing about writing multi-pov fiction is that you can (usually) only write a scene once, certainly only once in full play-by-play.

And you have to decide which fits better: The perspective of the character experiencing, or the perspective of the observer, robbing the audience of what's going through the focal character's head.

May sound counterintuitive but forcing the audience to sit with the observer, relying only on the focal character's words (if any), body language, and expressions can lead to all sorts of unreliable narration and heavy bias, as well as leave the scene open to wide interpretation.

Not great when that character is being forced out of the closet to the audience and the observer, who's a straight boy

Also great for the effect of telling the audience "you don't get to know what they're thinking here, and that's the point"

If you can't decide, write the scene from both perspectives and pick the best. If you've never tried, give it a shot.

I've got a multipov book with unrequited love and a massive miscommunication between an "I thought you knew" and "I thought you would have told me" situation, and having to decide which narrator got a given scene as the relationship built up and then collapsed under its own rickety foundation was tough, but so, so fun.

I had a previous multipov book with a couple telepaths in the cast, and one of my favorite things to do was to have those two telepaths show the other characters what they look like through their eyes. Not literally. but what features the telepath's mind remembers sharply, which are distorted compared to the mirror. One of those telepaths was recently blinded, and showed characters what they thought they'd look like, based on their voice and emotions. (And deciding which narrator gets that moment is also tough, but really fun)

Also also, when you have an ensemble cast of rotating narrators, but purposefully exclude a prominent character from the roster. Works really well for conniving, scheming characters where each narrator is going to interpret their actions and intent differently.

[physalian-writes]

I don't think I've ever been in a situation where I see a book that says it's like this other book I enjoyed and thought to myself "that's unfortunate, I already read that story".

I've seen posts of would-be writers sad that all their ideas have been written before and here's the thing:

People will read it if it's worse than the original--50 Shades made bank.

People will read it if it's the original blended up and pummeled with a meat mallet--ACOTAR is *still* making bank

People will read it if it's a shameless cash-grab shell of the original---Divergent exists

People will make entire industries off the back of the original---D&D exists

And people will love it if it's a vibrant love letter to the original, no matter how many times that story has been retold--The 2025 Frankenstein Fandom just exploded into existence

In the words of Christian Bale's Batman: "It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me."

If making it brings you joy, what do you have to lose?

[roadhogsbigbelly]

i'm not saying people shouldn't be reading more books, but i do think it's funny how many people thinking "reading comprehension" is just about how good you are at reading books and not like. criticial thinking skills.

[fedoranon]

Before my niece was in school and her first few summers, I babysat her pretty often, natch. Occasionally I'd take her to a movie (mostly as an excuse to watch a "kids" movie, ha) but there was a lot of PBS and Netflix because then I could lay out the grapes and crackers.

And after the movie, or every few episodes, I'd ask her, you know, what her favorite part was, or what did she think would happen next? Total glass eyes. Okay, okay, favorite is a bit much. Was there a part she liked? A character? ..... Any character's name?

I told my sister I was concerned of course. I got blown off. And then she started school and started getting notes about her reading comprehension and my sister was like but she knows how to read, I know she knows what words mean! And I was like no no no this is what I was talking about and like. Obviously I read the four year old picture books too but the example that came to mind was being disappointed we couldn't finish Carmen Sandiego and either not knowing or not wanting to tell me the main character's name.

And she's like, well that isn't reading.

Okay! So! The skill isn't named correctly but that's what it is!! That's what it is for a 4 year old, they should at least be on that level!

It's not about knowing the most words or the most complicated grammar, it's about being able to give a basic summary of a post and add a semi-relevant anecdote (lol). on its most basic level, it's about not pissing on the poor

[parasite-core]

A handful of people have told me I should have put my tags in the actual post so here you go:

[handsaniti]

The good thing about critical thinking skills is that they can be developed and improved upon with patience and practice

[clockworkcanary]

A lot of the things you think “just come naturally” or are “common sense” are actually things that you learned at some point. You just don’t remember learning them!

The one that I know that I learned in college because I remember having problems with it, and then it finally clicking, was warm and cool colors. Golden hour, or how to indicate cool or warm in art. It’s one of my very favorite ways to play with color, NOW, but, it took me most of a semester in a color focused art class, in my early twenties to SEE it.

Ugh. So many assignments where the teacher was like, “nope, bot there yet.” So many!! (So long ago, too. We were doing slide photography and showing the slides in class, every class meeting)

It was useful, to me, to encounter something that took so much work for me to actually see it. Before that, I had mostly just done what was easiest, what people told me I had a “talent” for.

No. The skill of learning new mental skills? The frustration tolerance to get through and get it to click? THAT was the most valuable thing I encountered in college because it applies to everything all the time everywhere.

And it’s good to understand that it is ALL SKILLS! All of it. The easy and the hard stuff. You CAN learn it. Figuring out how to get yourself to actually grasp it is harder, though. Different people learn in different ways.

The frustration tolerance, though. That was really hard for me. I am still working on it.

[elumish]

Both as a writer and as a general member of society, reading comprehension is a super important skill to have.

I think one of the ways that a lot of people get frustrated by how reading is taught in school is that some teachers will focus heavily on very specific details in books, and so you will end up being tested on reading retention rather than reading comprehension. I had a teacher in high school whose reading quizzes were all about random details in whatever passage we had been assigned for homework (e.g., how many minutes did it take for the floodwaters to get from Town A to Town B) rather than on the actual comprehension of the passage. This can make you feel like you can't do reading comprehension or are bad at it, because it's what you've been tested on (especially if you never took a literature class post-high school).

Here are some skills that I think are important for reading comprehension, whether you're approaching fiction, non-fiction, persuasive writing, or anything else:

Understanding the meaning of a sentence in isolation, a paragraph, a section, and the entire piece. That is to say, having the ability to both parse the meaning of a sentence on its own but also understand how a set of thoughts fit together. A great way to practice this is to try to explain what something means to someone else (can be a real person, a pet, a stuffed animal, whatever). When I'm working with the people who report to me to edit their writing, one of the things I will often ask them is to explain what they're saying in a very simple non-business way. This also works with someone else's writing--can you take what was written in explain or describe it in plain terminology? Can you summarize a chapter or even a book in a few sentences?

Fitting the writing within the context in which it was written or published. If you see an essay talking about women's safety, for example, that phrasing will mean something different depending on who is writing it. It is often clear from the rest of the essay what they mean by it, but it is key to comprehending the writing as a whole to understand the context in which it was written or published (for example, to know whether it is being used as a transphobic dogwhistle). Can you identify biases in the writing, either through how it's written or what you know about the author or place where it was published? We know some of the biases that will be present in a piece put out by the Heritage Foundation versus Planned Parenthood, even without knowing the author.

Identifying themes or messages in the writing. Some authors and some writing focuses much more heavily on themes or messages than others (for example, a persuasive essay will have a much greater focus on a persuasive message than an encyclopedia entry), but no writing is truly neutral, and themes, messages, or goals (intentional or not) are present in virtually every piece of writing. You don't need to write a five paragraph essay about everything you read, but it can be good practice to spend a little bit of time thinking about how the piece of writing presents certain information or people. If someone is described as "stubborn" versus "obstinate" or "brave" versus "foolhardy", it gives a sense of the message being presented about this person. if all characters of a certain race, gender, religion, etc. are presented a certain way, you can start to identify the message that the story is sending about that group--whether or not the author intended it.

Maintaining a critical view of information. This isn't strictly reading comprehension as much as media literacy, but I think they are connected enough to include here. Not everything you read is accurate or true, including things that agree with your pre-existing worldview, and the follow up to the three things I listed before is to identify what something is saying, the context in which it is saying it, and the messages it is putting across, and engaging critically with them rather than assuming it's all correct. To be clear, I'm not saying don't believe science or anything like that, but, for example, a lot of science reporting in major media is kind of awful and misleading, especially in the headlines. If you see a headline that reads bacon always causes cancer, it's important to look at the actual reporting, potentially even look at the study it's citing, and understand what is actually being said, not what looked flashy in a headline. Similarly, if you only see a piece of major news in one place, particularly not from a pre-established reliable news source (by which I mean something like NBC and not A Partisan Podcaster on Twitter), you need to double check it. That's not to say it's necessarily fake or misleading, but there's usually a reason only one person is saying something happened.

[physalian-writes]

Second video!

[physalian-writes]

I have a youtube channel~

Some of it'll be taking my better posts and visualizing them, and some'll be off the cuff. For now, proof of concept.

[iphysalian]

Describing skin tones with food!

I am 100% not any authority on how you should describe non-white skin-tones, disclaimer.

I remember reading in a few places when writing my various diverse casts on ways to describe traits that are culturally specific here, but can’t really be called the same in fantasy settings (like dreadlocks).

I had a sensitivity reader for a Black-coded character who called me out on accidentally saying she was “white-knuckling” something. Honest mistake, I didn’t think twice about what “white-knuckling” literally means, it’s always been shorthand to convey fear and stress. Whoops.

But the other thing I remember seeing in quite a few places was avoiding using food to describe darker skin tones, and the one food I saw everywhere was, of course “chocolate”.

Majority consensus was that using food as a descriptor can look derogatory, especially something like chocolate that tends to also pop up in fiction that fetishizes darker skin tones, it’s always chocolate. Food is something you consume for pleasure, not something that denotes respect and autonomy of a person.

It's a small, small thing, and I don't think one instance of 'chocolate' is going to earn you a spot on a pyre, but it is cliche, and we can do better!

Issue then being that when you think of brown things, the immediate options you think of aren’t the same caliber as pale things. Wood types, and even then those are… eh? Mud is brown, dirt is brown, clay can be brown. Most woods aren't a perfect match-up for the wide range of darker skin tones and saying "her skin was black like black wood" is ridiculous and "her skin was black as soil" is insulting.

I think nuts and other natural materials are okay? (not the authority, not the authority at all) But it does then come down to which similes you use dependant on the story you're writing. If we're writing about a nature sprite and say their skin is the color of an acorn... yeah that tracks. If I'm writing a CEO of a major coporation, and describing their skin as the color of acorns, that's weird.

Whiteness on the other hand gets things like snow, paper, milky, creamy, alabaster, ivory, lily, daisy, etc. Even when whiteness is described with food, ‘milky’ doesn’t carry the same undertones as ‘chocolatey’.

I do go out of my way, for characters where it fits, to deliberately describe white skin tones with food just to shake up the balance a little bit and see if anybody notices.

So! Some pale-skinned food comparisons if anyone else wants to try with varying levels of cheekiness, and also to emphasize just why ‘chocolate’ can be a little bit insulting:

Cream

Milk

Eggshell

Powder

Banana

Yoghurt

Pear

Mozzarella

Cauliflower

Mushroom

Potato

Butter

Macadamia

Cashew

Parsnip

Water chestnut

Coconut

Truffle

Tofu

Wonder Bread

Sushi rice

In all seriousness, I used this post as part of my research way back when. At the end of the day, you don’t usually have to get that specific, certainly not every time mentioning their skin pops up in the narrative.

I can imagine using the above words if a character is either joking or insulting someone else ("that cauliflower fuck"), but not in any casual context, much less romantic or as a means to describe attractiveness. It’s just for fun plz see the satire.

[iphysalian]

Hi just had a question as an aspiring author. How do you stay motivated to write even if you don’t get many sales? I would never stop writing but I would probably lose my ability to complete books if I thought no one would read them.

It was definitely tough after my debut novel released after 7 months of effort and two different influencer scams cost me my entire author Instagram account, and a frustrating experience on TikTok. I’d been putting all my effort onto this platform for marketing and building an audience because Tumblr doesn’t require graphics and videos that I hate making. And, it doesn’t have an algorithm, if you have a following, it’s because you worked hard for one, as opposed to chasing clout, for the most part.

But having as many lurkers as I do (hi everyone) and realizing that a) the advice I give for free isn’t as appreciated as I thought it was and b) 1000+ followers doesn’t mean a damn because 90% of my sales were family and family friends (not my friends tho, my friends don’t read or care about what I’m working on)… it was hard. I got pretty cynical. I didn’t ever give up on writing, but I did almost give up on telling people about it.

I’m not good at nagging people to keep to their commitments and if somebody tells me they’re going to do something… let’s just say I’ve grown up learning not quickly enough that “Yeah sure absolutely!” is a polite way of saying “I’m not going to ever do this but I’m not going to tell you that” if doing the thing doesn’t happen immediately.

I did, however, stop writing my fanfics, which don’t give me monetary profit, but they do (or did) give me engagement, and I wasn’t getting that, so I stopped caring and it stopped being fun.

As for my writing, after 9 years of doing it quietly for myself, it wasn’t that hard to get back into the “write for yourself” mindset, but it was hard not doing so through a cynical lens.

And I’m still there, ngl. My debut novel is the first of four in a series, and if nobody read the first one, it’ll be impossible to get anyone to read the second one if doing so requires 111k words of homework. Traditionally published authors face diminishing returns just like this.

But I’m still writing, because I want to know how the story ends, and if I’m doing so somewhat out of spite, then so be it.

My new novella is very short, and cheaper. It might take somebody 2 hours to read in one sitting. If that doesn’t get sales… I’m not sure. Giving advice like “don’t make other people’s decisions for them” in preemptively not sharing your work because you assume they won’t like it is great in theory, but difficult in practice.

I write because I want to give people the heroes that I didn’t have. I want to give people characters that no one else is writing, so they can go “look, it’s me, I am seen” and know that they’re not alone.

So the best I can say is, I think, what I’ve said before and which I’m coopting from elsewhere:

“It’s okay if you only ever save one person in this life, and it’s okay if that person is yourself.”

[iphysalian]

Thinking about the "curtains are just blue" argument and

As a writer, there's a lot of reasons why shit happens in my stories and why things are certain colors. Like it's not always thematic, but it's rarely "just because" either. It could be:

Thematic/symbolic

From the author's personal history

The author's design biases

Inspired by another work

The color they realize they haven't used in a while

Beacuse it's alliterative/they like the cadence

Because it fits a trope/subverts a trope by inverting the detail

I have a character whose connection to the plot in one WIP is that their sibling died tragically. Why? Because these characters are all pulled from another, far older WIP, just tweaked to fit the new world, and the original character had the same dead sibling and connection to the plot.

50 years from now I could have some stuffy academic who reads both books go "Author must have had some sibling we know have no record of that died tragically and haunts their prose"

Nah fam I was just writing fanfic of my own book and went "wait I think I'm onto something" and then published it.

It wasn't a deep reason, but it was a reason nonetheless.

[iphysalian]

Small fantasy worldbuilding elements you might want to think about:

A currency that isn’t gold-standard/having gold be as valuable as tin

A currency that runs entirely on a perishable resource, like cocoa beans

A clock that isn’t 24-hours

More or less than four seasons/seasons other than the ones we know

Fantastical weather patterns like irregular cloud formations, iridescent rain

Multiple moons/no moon

Planetary rings

A northern lights effect, but near the equator

Roads that aren’t brown or grey/black, like San Juan’s blue bricks

Jewelry beyond precious gems and metals

Marriage signifiers other than wedding bands

The husband taking the wife's name / newlyweds inventing a new surname upon marriage

No concept of virginity or bastardry

More than 2 genders/no concept of gender

Monotheism, but not creationism

Gods that don’t look like people

Domesticated pets that aren’t re-skinned dogs and cats

Some normalized supernatural element that has nothing to do with the plot

Magical communication that isn’t Fantasy Zoom

“Books” that aren’t bound or scrolls

A nonverbal means of communicating, like sign language

A race of people who are obligate carnivores/ vegetarians/ vegans/ pescatarians (not religious, biological imperative)

I’ve done about half of these myself in one WIP or another and a little detail here or there goes a long way in reminding the audience that this isn’t Kansas anymore.

[iphysalian]

13 Ship Dynamics I Crave

And I want to know yours as well. Most of these can be read completely platonic, btw.

“You make me a worse person, let’s be irresponsible together.”

“You make me a better person, holy fuck how did I dupe you into loving me?”

“Nobody fucks with you but me.”

“I’ve been lying to everyone and the mirror, but you see through my ruse, and I hate it.”

“I can fix him!” *Actually does and he takes some accountability

“I am Angst and Loner and Quiet Mean Guy. Except for this lil’ puffball of joy.”

“They’re a badass warrior with ten thousand titles and I’m their adoring support who no one will remember but them.”

“Pfft, a whole army, you say? Bestie and I got this, 800 to 1, let’s gooooo!”

“I hate him. I loathe him. He’s insufferable. He’s incorrigible. He’s—fuck.”

 “I don’t even know who you are but in an alternate universe we’d apparently have a gay ol’ time.”

 “They’re the ship’s fearless captain and I’m the silent badass second-in-command.”

 “Well, we had a shared brain cell, but they dropped it with their shoe down the sewer grate."

“We’re the two over-worked and under-paid hearts/healers and the only person keeping the other alive most days.”

[iphysalian]

Beta Reader Checklist! (Suggestions)

Beta reading is highly, highly subjective, so take this whole post with a massive grain of salt. IMO, in short, more feedback is always safer than less feedback, unless the author states otherwise.

Like, if they ask you to do a final read through for any lingering issues, you can speed-read your way through the manuscript for general vibes and enjoyability. If this is the first round of edits and beta reads, the more you can give them, even if you think you're over-reaching, the better.

Thank you to all my betas thus far, absolutely no shade meant with this post. Everybody's got different expectations. This is meant to help anyone who's unsure about the task before them.

So I'm going to use some snippets from my seasoned beta reader's feedback from my upcoming novella for the variety of commentary you can give.

Positive vibes/reader reaction

Even if the manuscript is a hot mess, sending back a beta read with 0 good things to say is going to demoralize the author. Even if all you can say is "this is a cool concept that can benefit from a better execution," letting the author know that they've written something salvagable helps, especially if you can do it in the first few paragraphs.

Grammar and Syntax

You are not a line editor and should not be expected to line edit someone's first draft (and this beta got the ~7th draft). However, if you do see something while reading, there's no reason that you can't leave a suggestion.

Fun commentary

We authors like to know that the reader is connecting with the story. These comments tells me absolutely nothing helpful about bettering the manuscript, but they're human responses from a human reader and it's just nice to see. Beta readers are casual, you should be allowed to stay stuff like this.

Developmental edits

Beta readers generally come before the big expensive editor (if you ever hire one at all) which means the goal is more big picture, developmental commentary over splitting hairs about punctuation. This comment got me to add about half a paragraph's worth of extra narrative to expand upon, because I liked the suggestion.

Continuity and reader comprehension

This novella happens to be about a niche subject that not every layman reader will understand, so I have to find the line between overexplaining to those who know, and underexplaining to those who don't, without reading like a textbook. The top line I ended up leaving as I didn't think the risk of confusion was worth the added technical detail. The bottom line was a continuity error that I did have to fix.

Repetition and style

I'm an author who will always look for ways to lower my word count. Sometimes cutting a random line is better for the narrative than doubling down and trying to justify it with extra details. In this case, I over-used a motif, and happily saved myself 7 words.

Potential for extra detail

If you struggle with lengthening your word count, you can ask your betas to focus on where the narrative is thin and can benefit for more immersion and backstory. This beta leaves me comments everywhere suggesting places for extra sensory details, as I write very lean narratives with little fluff, and my consistency with sensory details varies widely.

All told, over 21k words of story, this beta left me exactly 100 comments, and a couple quick line edits within the text itself. It shows me, at the very least, that she was engaged with the story. The only time she doesn't leave me comments is when a scene is so intense that she forgets to make one.

The Reader Report

The reader report is a separate document from the manuscript copy that compiles and condenses the beta's thoughts into a much shorter format so the author doesn't have to scroll up and down constantly for a big picture takeaway. It also expands upon any commentary the beta had, but didn't want to put in a single tag within the narrative and is typically written after most of the manuscript has been read for overall thoughts.

This beta in particular knows what I like, which is breaking down the report by chapter (or parts in this case). The only thing missing from her delivery is a final conclusion that will answer the three big questions:

Did she like it?

Would she buy it?

Would she recommend it?

But it was also done in a rush and in her email she said I made her cry so I count that as a yes for all 3.

—

I did not implement every suggestion from her, but I did acknowledge where other readers might feel the same and weighed the pros of trying to satisfy everything vs maintaining my clear vision.

The benefit of the beta process, if you work with multiple betas, is having more than one reader's opinion, and why I don't think anyone should pay ridiculous fees for a developmental editor. My betas all had different opinions on this manuscript, and I can treat their feedback like a scatterplot, deciding on revisions with an average throughline.

At the end of the day, you write for yourself, not to please any one beta reader. They're suggestions, not rules, and even if your beta tells you they hate it, you at least learn who your target audience isn't, and what naysayers wouldn't like.

[writingtips-resources]

Here's How I Structure a Multi-POV Novel Without Confusion

Multi-POV novels—the kind that can either be a masterpiece or an absolute mess if you’re not careful.

When I first started writing one, I thought, How hard could it be?

But now, after some trial, error, and a lot of coffee-fueled nights, I’ve nailed down a structure that keeps things clear and engaging for readers.

Let me walk you through it—step by step

The First Rule is Every POV Must Have a Purpose and Unique Voice

If a POV doesn’t add something valuable to the story—cut it. Readers shouldn’t have to wade through pointless internal monologues about side character #47's childhood traumas.

Ask yourself:

Does this POV reveal crucial information the reader wouldn’t otherwise know?

Does it deepen emotional stakes?

Does it move the plot forward?

If you’re nodding along then.....

Good—you’ve earned that POV a seat at the table.

Imagine this:

you’re halfway through a chapter, and you can’t figure out who’s narrating.

Disaster, right?

That’s why giving each character a unique way of speaking, thinking, and being is non-negotiable.

Here’s how I do it:

Lucas: Logical, sharp, always weighing pros and cons. He’d say something like, “Emotions don’t win battles. Plans do.”

Sophie: Spirited, emotional, and unapologetically blunt. Her take? “Oh, great. Another lecture from Mr. Perfect Plan.”

See the difference? It’s not just what they say—it’s how they process the world.

The Second Rule is "Anchor Each POV with a Clear Voice and Goal"

Each character’s perspective should feel distinct. If readers can’t tell your brooding knight from your witty rogue based on narrative voice alone, you’re in trouble.

Try these tips for Voice

Adjust sentence length (a soldier might speak in short, clipped thoughts, while a scholar might ramble).

Use vocabulary that fits their personality.

Keep internal thoughts consistent with their motivations.

Also, keep in mind that "Every POV character has their own agenda".

If Lucas is all about closing a business deal, and Sophie’s trying to uncover the truth about her goddaughter’s past, their internal monologues and actions will naturally feel distinct.

Here’s what that looks like:

Lucas is obsessing over a strategy: “The numbers didn’t lie. If she couldn’t see that, it was her loss.”

Sophie is focused on her next big move: “I wasn’t backing down. Not until I got the answers Alex deserved.”

The goals drive the story forward by keeping their perspectives crystal clear.

The Third Rule is "Make the Transitions Crystal Clear and in Flow

Head-hopping mid-paragraph? Please, no.

Switching POVs mid-scene without a clear break? Also no.

Please understand that "Smooth transitions are key". Instead of jumping abruptly from one character’s head to another, I leave breadcrumbs. Like:

End Lucas’s chapter with: “I’d like to see her try.”

Start Sophie’s chapter with: “Challenge accepted.”

It’s seamless, keeps the pacing intact, and gives readers a little thrill.

Here are three golden rules for smooth transitions:

Use chapter or scene breaks.

Start each new POV with a strong opening line that grounds the reader.

If possible, include the POV character's name at the beginning.

Also, one more thing to add( before i forget)

"Use the setting to ground readers in a character’s world. If the scene opens with a high-rise office view, they’ll know it’s Lucas. If it’s a messy studio with books everywhere, it’s Sophie".

The Fourth Rule is "Keep Timelines Straight"

If two characters are narrating events that happen simultaneously, make sure the timeline aligns. Readers shouldn’t have to create a conspiracy board to figure out who was where and when.

I always create a timeline cheat sheet for myself. Sticky notes. Spreadsheets. Hieroglyphs on my office wall.

Choose-Whatever works for you...

Also, you should Clear Breaks Between POVs

No reader wants to play detective to figure out whose head they’re in. I stick to clear chapter or scene breaks for each POV switch. And yes, I label chapters with the character’s name when needed.

For example:

Chapter 5: Lucas I wasn’t in the mood for interruptions, but Sophie didn’t care about moods. Or interruptions.

Chapter 6: Sophie He looked at me like I’d just derailed his perfectly planned life. Honestly, I probably did."

The fifth Rule is "Maintain the Balance among POVs"

Not every character needs equal screen time, but every POV should feel intentional.

Main characters can carry more chapters.

Side characters should pop in when their perspective really matters.

Readers love patterns. If you’re alternating between two or three characters, stick to that order as much as possible. Don’t go: Lucas, Sophie, Lucas, Sophie, Random Villain. Chaos.

And please, for the love of storytelling, don’t introduce a new POV in the final 10 pages unless you’re trying to give your readers whiplash.

One of my favorite tricks is 👇

Ending a POV with a cliffhanger, then switching to another character. It’s a love-hate moment for readers—they have to keep going to find out what happens.

The Sixth Rule is "Work on Emotional Arcs because They Still Matter"

Every POV character needs their own emotional journey, even if they’re not the protagonist. Readers should care about their stakes, struggles, and triumphs.

Some of Key Emotional Arc Considerations are👇👇👇👇👇

What is the character's primary goal or motivation?

What obstacles or conflicts are preventing them from achieving it?

How does the character evolve or transform by the conclusion of their arc?

NOW, It's time to Test It Out (Seriously)

Hand your manuscript to a beta reader or your critique partner or maybe a writer fellow- and ask:

Did any POVs feel unnecessary?

Were the transitions smooth?

Did you ever feel lost or confused?

If they respond with, “Oh yeah, I knew exactly whose head I was in every chapter,”

Then

Boommmm—you nailed it

Share your favorite examples of well-structured multi-POV novels in the comments, and let’s discuss what made them effective.

Feel free to highlight specific techniques or moments that stood out to you.

free resources, blog, services,

[iphysalian]

[iphysalian]

Does anyone actually have a problem with italics in books?

I see plenty of posts defending the use of italics, to convey stress, tone, sarcasm, etc, but I have never heard of anyone complaining about the use of italics.

Bold, yes. Exclamation points ! and interrobangs ‽, yes. I've even heard of people complaining about single-quote 'dialogue' vs double quote "dialogue".

But nope, I've never ever heard somebody complain about italics. Even if they do, what could your argument possibly be? It's immature?

Writing evolves; audiences evolve. One day we'll get to use the interrobang, one day. But we're not gonna get there unless this apparent formatting gatekeeping stops.

[moonytoastxx-deactivated2025101]

I have like, an entire thesis on this so I hope you don’t mind if I throw in my…several cents.

I feel like this type of writing advice (complaint, really) never comes from readers but from other writers. It seems like it’s a ‘show don’t tell’ issue. The theory being, if you write it well enough, readers should be able to infer the way that your character is speaking. And if you need the italics, it just means you should write it again, better.

The thing is.

The thing is.

This type of advice always seems to come from writers like Stephen King. The guy who also says it’s sloppy writing to use unnecessary words like adverbs, but then goes out of his way to describe the breasts of EVERY female character we run across, however minor a role they play in the story?

So what I’m saying is I know I’m a nobody writer and Stephen King is one of the most successful writers ever. But this type of advice from him and others…I can’t take it seriously. We all need to step back and look critically at our own writing. Even people like Stephen King. I think italics often add more to the story than hearing the author perv on his characters constantly, but that’s just me.

[iphysalian]

Hey aspiring writer friend. Hey guess what?

That feedback you're so terrified of? It gets better. "If you wouldn't take a person's advice, don't take their criticism" applies here as well.

I've been doing this gig for 9 years. Last night I got back a piece of a preliminary edit from my professional editor and all over the first 7 pages were two of my crutch words, "make" and "still".

I actually smiled when I saw it. I went through the entire rest of the manuscript and deleted as many instances of those two words as I could, and over half were superfluous.

Why did I smile? Because I'm learning. I may write those words automatically, but they've been added to my list of things to check during the editing process. That's why there's an editing process. Not just one round, not just one speed-read. A process.

Eventually, you figure out which feedback is helping, and which is just noise. You don't have to listen to the noise just because it's loud.

It gets better.