Juggling Multiple POVs in Your Storyworld
Learn POVs With Me in Apple Hair!
Welcome to the Apple Hair CANON!
Here, I’ll explore creating a fictional universe, and I’m hoping you’ll follow along with your own world. I’m by no means an expert, so let’s discuss how to create a believable, magical, and captivating world. Let’s be storycatchers together!
Want to read Apple Hair, the boy band fantasy novel, from the very beginning? You can start here! Apple Hair is a fictional, Asian American boy band from Hawaii.
Welcome to the newsletter, and I’m excited to lay down the foundations of our storyworlds together, one word at a time.
Hi, storycatchers! Last time, I talked about the struggles of wanting to be the “main character” while creating your storyworld. Today’s post is all about juggling POV in your story!
What is your opinion on multiple POVs? Love them? Hate them? Some people have strong feelings about this. One side of the camp loves going deep into one character’s viewpoint. Others, like myself, love dual POV and even multiple (cast ensemble, anyone?).
I see the appeal of both. With books like The Hunger Games, I love spending time with the main character—getting to know them almost like a friend. With a single POV, the plot feels like it could move smoothly, and you won’t get confused from jumping from character to character.
In novels like Six of Crows, it could be a little disorienting to accustom yourself to the various characters—all of their personalities and backstories. However, once you get acquainted, I feel like the plot can weave and twist in ways that aren’t possible with a single POV. For example, a character can reveal certain information that the other characters aren’t aware of. Other times, they can execute an exciting scene (a heist, anyone?) that would otherwise happen off-page for the other character(s).
I adore both novels that I mentioned! But again, there are pros and cons to the POV that you use.
What are you more inclined to writing? Does it differ from what type of POV style that you like to read?
In Apple Hair, I made the scary decision to juggle five POVs. Yes. And of course, I had to decide to use a first-person perspective for each. (Should I write another post on which perspective to use?) This created a huge challenge for me as the characters started to blur together—it was very difficult to manage five personalities.
The learning curve to writing multiple POVs is big, but once you get settled it can turn out to be very rewarding! I absolutely love switching from character to character now. I had to challenge myself to really get into the minds of Van, Corrin, Kaden, Seiya, and David.
That brings me to another possible challenge with multiple POVs. The reader can choose a favorite, and then they’ll be disappointed to read the chapters of the other characters. This has happened to me many times as a reader! The author needs to infuse each character with intrigue to keep this risk at a minimum.
Have you been inspired to think about possibly changing your style of writing? I was once very locked into writing a single perspective—nothing else appealed to me. Now, I am open to experimenting with POVs, and I would love to write an electric dual POV novel like Marie Lu’s Legend or These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.
Do you have a favorite novel that uses multiple POVs? Let me know!
For my paid subscribers, here’s a link to early access to Debut in Broad Daylight. I appreciate you very much! A reminder that this is a very rough draft—meaning very unedited! You’re getting the first sneak peek, and the boy band members are glad you’re getting an early start with them.
What would you like me to discuss in the next post? Jump into my Chat or on one of my Notes, and I’ll be happy to hear your input. I’m rooting for both of us!