<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>From: <a href="https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/knowing-how-and-when-to-use-multiple-pov-characters-in-a-manuscript/">https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/knowing-how-and-when-to-use-multiple-pov-characters-in-a-manuscript/</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“There is nothing insignificant in the world. It all depends on the point of view.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>What is fiction but a story with a point of view?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>On the one hand, point of view is the lens or perspective from which the story is told. On the other hand, it’s the person you use to tell the tale, whether first (“I” or “we”), second (“you”), or third (“they,” “he,” “she,” etc.) Writers seldom use the second person, so the first or the third is the usual choice.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>But if it’s third person, what about the omniscient? The omniscient POV was certainly popular in 19th-century novels and, to some extent, in 20th-century ones, but it’s pretty much passé today. Instead, the contemporary choice for third person is either limited omniscient or, if more than one consciousness is needed, multiple points of view. But what are the advantages of the multiple POV? <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Let’s consider multiple POVs as an option to the omniscient as well as to the single POV, whether first or third. Why go multiple? <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>For answers, we turned to several well-published authors who regularly use multiple POVs.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>An omniscient narrator can dip into different characters’ minds but also has the leeway to know things beyond what any given character knows – and can opt, at certain times, to provide authorial commentary. What can you gain by choosing multiple points of view over authorial omniscience? <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>According to Jessica Goodman, a New York Times bestselling author of YA thrillers, there is a definite payoff in using multiple points of view. Multiple perspectives are not just different windows on the world but also different vessels of knowing. “Writing with multiple points of view allows readers to see one scene, story, or event from different characters’ perspectives, meaning the readers may end up knowing more than the characters themselves.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The value of this? Plot-wise, she says, choosing multiple POVs can create suspense because you’re able to “propel the story forward since the reader wants to know when – or if! – the characters will find out what’s already been revealed through someone else’s POV.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The advantage of multiple points of view extends beyond elements of plot to the creation of voice, says Adrianne Finlay, YA author of speculative fiction. “The most critical advantage is that it can help shape an understanding of the story through voice-driven narrative.” Through multiple POVs, you’re able to “convey character and character perspective, as well as provide the kind of vivid storytelling that voice-driven POV narratives allow.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Advertisement<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Also, she says, using multiple points of view can create the possibility of different story meanings or interpretations. “While authorial commentary can be useful and efficient, multiple points of view allow for complexities of narrative that leave the reader thinking – multiple POVs may offer contradictory interpretation of events and differing understandings, so the author can explore new and varied ways to investigate the nature of story.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>For Ellen Meeropol, author of four novels, there are three major advantages of multiple POVs: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“Multiple points of view can add nuance and complexity to a novel.” (She finds this especially helpful in a novel dealing with controversial issues: “Contrasting narrator perspectives allow the writer to delve deeply into charged material with less risk of becoming didactic or lecturing.”)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“Clashing accounts of the action, from different and diverging perspectives, can ramp up the conflict and increase the tension in a novel.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“Writing different perspectives helps a writer develop the internal contradictions of their characters…This, in turn, can open up the ‘conversation’ of the novel, inviting the reader to join in, adding their own opinions and thoughts.” If multiple points of view have certain advantages over an authorial POV, what, if any, are the benefits of multiple points of view over a single POV? <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>According to Goodman, one advantage over the single POV is enhancement of character relationships: “Having multiple POVs helps create more dynamic relationships because you can see a bond from a 360-perspective.” In the case of a dual POV, she says, “You get to know how both characters feel about one another, why they’re acting the way they’re acting, and what they think about the other person. What results is a rich relationship that leaps off the page.”How do you determine how many points of view you will need? What about secondary or minor characters? Can they be POV characters? <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>A few questions may help you determine the right number of points of view, states Goodman. Namely: “Whose POV is necessary to propel the plot forward? Whose narration will drive this story? Whose voice is most interesting or compelling?” Once you’ve answered these questions, says Goodman, you should watch for answers that overlap, which will tell you which characters are important enough to concentrate on. Tips from the pros<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Jessica Goodman: “Practice writing your POV characters having a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>conversation with one another. It can be something mundane, like ordering at a diner or how they’d interact<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>at a cocktail party. Writing in their voices can help distinguish them from one another.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Lance Olsen: “Engaging with distinct multiple points of view is<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>all about engaging with distinct modes of language, asking yourself about a character’s background, hurts, hopes, schooling, life conditions, and so on, then asking yourself how you can express those through everything from punctuation to word choice, sentence rhythm to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>the circus of a mind in motion.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>Ann M. Chiappetta, M.S.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>Making Meaningful ConnectionsThrough Media <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>914.393.6605 USA<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:Anniecms64@gmail.com">Anniecms64@gmail.com</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>All things Annie: <a href="http://www.annchiappetta.com">www.annchiappetta.com</a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>