Forum: Author Hangout

Did you find your readers were at all bothered by it?

The only complaints I had were from a couple of readers who bitch about every first person story I write. Most emails stated they liked the story. Many of the readers would have read both, but no one has directly compared the two stories.

Rough Diamond was posted in March 2009 is 289 kb - 59,000 words - 62,917 downloads with a score of 8.16

A Farmer's Life was posted in Dec 2014 is 246 kb - 46,000 words - 38, 386 downloads with a score of 8.32

Beyond that I can't help with a technical analysis. I have since started using the third person more often, because it's easier to change characters, and I think it's more effective. But that's a personal view.

I would do everything in 3rd person, but following a specific character, and then switch to a different character, still in 3rd person....usually to a location where the MC isn't present.

A lot of authors do it, and it works well, like it did in A Farmer's Life and in Survivor and a lot of my other more recent stories. Always a Marine does that with 3rd person past tense.

Ok. I guess I just haven't come across it much, so thought it might not be common here.

Ok. I guess I just haven't come across it much, so thought it might not be common here.

Many authors write in the 3rd person, but most write in past tense, while I tend to write in present tense, and for a lot of stories I used first person, but now do more in the third person.

Many authors write with only the one character POV, so there are a lot of stories with only the single person POV. Another group will only have a small percentage of the story as another person POV. However, you're right when you say there's not a lot of the multi-person POV stories out there.

To be clear, I am not talking about switching diff. 1st person POV or from 1st to 3rd. I would do everything in 3rd person, but following a specific character, and then switch to a different character, still in 3rd person....usually to a location where the MC isn't present.

Again, the key is NOT to do it in the middle of some other character's perspective. Instead, you want to break the story (section or chapter break) and focus exclusively on the new character, then break again to return focus on the other characters so readers know what to expect and won't be caught, wondering who the hell is talking.

You also need to make it clear who the section/chapter is focused on. Many authors don't even glance at chapter titles, so you can't rely on that to announce character switches. Your best bet is to start with a descriptive statement about the new character's actions, and then follow that character so it's obvious that section is about him/her, and not switch to anyone else until you're completed with them.

Oyster50 has a series called Smart Girls Universe where most of the more recent stories are in multiple POV. Oyster uses the simple device of a simple subheading "Lena's Turn" when switching to the POV of Lena etc.

He needs to do that because they're first person, and he needs to show the change is obvious.

Yes, he does... and they're consistently in 1st person. I find the abrupt switch from person to person so distracting and off-putting that I've stopped reading the series entirely.

That's a central problem with this approach. While it can be done well, a central tenet is to constrain the number of points of view. If you have too many, readers will flee. Also, as I've noted before, many readers don't bother to pay attention to chapter titles or section heads—especially if they seem redundant—to putting which POV the next section is in a chapter or section break is often self-defeating. Instead, you need to make it clear who's 'speaking' (as the narrator) in the story itself—even if you put it in the title!

Generally I'd limit myself to 3 to 5 (at the absolute maximum) different POV characters, though even that's pushing the limits.

1st person stories are supposedly preferred because the story is more immediate and relatable (i.e. the reader identifies with the Main Character). However, if the main character keeps changing, you throw that advantage right out the window. If you want to relate what everyone is thinking, switch to 3rd person omni, where the narrator know all!

1st person stories are supposedly preferred because the story is more immediate and relatable (i.e. the reader identifies with the Main Character). However, if the main character keeps changing, you throw that advantage right out the window.

Agree 100% (not sure about the "immediate" part, though. The strength of 1st-person is for the reader to be intimate with the narrator).

If you want to relate what everyone is thinking, switch to 3rd person omni, where the narrator know all!

If you want to relate what everyone is thinking within a scene, write it in omni (it can be 1st-omni too, like "The Book Thief" where the omni narrator is Death and talks in 1st-person). But if all you want to do is switch POVs at a scene change, then 3rd-limited (multiple) is the way to go. That's how most genre fiction novels are written today.

These changes were done at scene breaks.

As long as the POV change is clear you can show the changes with things like horizontal rules etc. I use a variety of options from half-line horizontal rules through section titles, sub-chapters, and chapters. You just need to clearly show the reader who is the focus for that part of the story.

Sorry, it's been at least a year since I read that the last time (well, re-read. I do like the story quite a lot FYI), so I didn't remember, exactly. I just remember POV switching to his sister at some point.

That's good advice. Thanks Crumbly.

Sorry, it's been at least a year since I read that the last time (well, re-read. I do like the story quite a lot FYI), so I didn't remember, exactly. I just remember POV switching to his sister at some point.

That's good advice. Thanks Crumbly.

You're welcome. I went into that story, writing in 1st, and realized I couldn't delve into the details I wanted to, so I found a way to include other characters, but in the end decided I preferred 3rd all the time, though I retain what I learned from that experience in 1st.

I watched an Australian cop show, Rush, on Hulu. One episode they tried this, showing the same 15 minutes four times over, each from a different characters perspective. It was unnerving.

I've seen it work, in fiction, but it requires a precise technique. The perspective has to be unique, i.e. the characters aren't seeing the exact same things. Instead, they're in the same room at the same time, but they're seeing, hearing and doing completely different things, so there's a commonality but they aren't repeating what the other characters did.

I don't recommend it for newbies, as it's difficult to carry off effectively.

One episode they tried this, showing the same 15 minutes four times over,

The movie "Courage Under Fire" had Denzel Washington investigating the death of a female captain (Meg Ryan). Everyone told a different story (so they kept replaying the same scene from everyoine's POV), but the truth came out at the end. It was an okay movie.

"Vantage Point" was another. It wasn't so good.

Then there was a movie I saw that I don't remember the name. Each scene was told first from the girl's POV and then retold from the boy's. Boring!

These two guys wrote this outstanding novel before either was first published. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the action genre.

I'll second that recommendation.

Also, if you're into that sort of thing - all of the Monster Hunter books by Larry Correia.