The other thread about POVs got me thinking of an old idea.
Something I would love to see done well, though I admit I wouldn't do it because of the amount of drudgery involved, is a multi POV tale in which the user could choose which viewpoint, which character is the MC.
The story would necessarily be limited to a few primary characters, otherwise it would quickly grow unmanageable. The author would have to rewrite the same story over and over, each time from the viewpoint of a new character and, finally, in a 3rd person omniscient view.
The reader could choose a character to start with and switch at will, or stick with one and then read a second character or even a third to see how the POV switches, how the motivations of the character are seen internally and externally.
The mechanism is what has always stymied me. There are a dozen ways you could do it, but none of them feel right.
Do you attempt to mix the POVs in a single book or do you have multiple stories, each with a single POV? In a print book, it could be something as simple as a colored page, different for each character and white for the Narrator.
Electronically would be easier, with the ability to switch between viewpoints at will, never losing your place in the story, but software would have to be developed to do that.
What other challenges would be involved in writing something like this?
