Multiple POVs

[Lynxie]

That was the plan B, I was going to break it into chapters. Thanks :)

[Samantha The Escapist]

I have plans laid for a series of 3 or 4 books about a war that spans a few years. Each book will be a whole story unto itself with 2-3 unique characters from whose POV I'll write alternating chapters. The characters will be concluded in their book while the next book shifts to another country embroiled in the same war and two new characters and their unique experiences.

The first one will go between two sisters who play important roles for their own country. And it'll be chapter by chapter back and forth. They begin the book apart and around halfway through they'll meet up but as each situation arises it will be only from the perspective of the sister in control of the chapter - I don't want to bounce around because I HATE that when I'm reading.

[Anastasia]

Like everyone else, I think three or four POVs is the maximum any book should have.

Except that I kind of wrote a book with eight POVs once.

[Sarah]

That's a cool idea!

[t star]

Rick Riordan does 4 in his recent book Mark of Athena and it worked out great

[Gabrielle]

I have a story I am working at with my friend with several times and points of view. I think it is rather fun to do it that way because you understand characters better.

[Lexi]

I agree with most people. 1-3 points of view is about as far as you should go. Normally. However, there are some authors who go beyond that, but somehow manage to make it work. Take City of Bones for example. The series is written from multiple points of view. I think the most common ones are Clary, Jace, Simon, Alec, Maia and Jordan. The multiple POV's even enhances the book. Each character is developed perfectly through it. So my answer is 1-3 with the occasional exception.

[Samantha The Escapist]

Alexa wrote: "I agree with most people. 1-3 points of view is about as far as you should go. Normally. However, there are some authors who go beyond that, but somehow manage to make it work. Take City of Bones f..."

Actually Alexa those POVs were one of the main reasons I was turned off of Clare's writing. I didn't think it worked at all and made the tone of the book entirely too disjointed. So when I'm giving an example for multiple POVs gone wrong I usually cite that book.

However with a book that has a highly conceptual style like World War Z the multiple first-hand accounts come together to form a nicely cohesive story.

[Kate]

I'm writing a Multi-POV historical fiction that centers around a father and his two children.I tried to stick to three, but they need an outside observer to draw them into the different worlds. The father is patrician born, high class, but is a soldier himself by choice, so none of them are comfortable in their circles. When they finally find the right place, they are forced to defend it. Each have their own perspective and journey to freedom completely independent of the others.

I tried eliminating each characters POV and realized that if I did it would fundamentally change the story, so I think it has more to do with the purpose of a story. I am dealing with generation, gender, economic standing, and religious tolerance, so each of my POV's takes a strong stance for those areas. In a romance there are two people in love, so it makes sense to only have two.

It all depends on the scope of the story. Less is more, but you still need enough to give your story the perspective and voice to tell itself.

[Finley]

I want to try writing in over five. I have five main characters in something I'm planning. It's probably all going to be in third except for one, but maybe I should just make it all omniscient.

[[deleted user]]

Just Joe wrote: "I have a war story with 20 main.....yeah.... Lol it's always like an onlooker( 3 rd omniscient if I'm remembering correctly) but I switch between different groups in almost every chapter. I'm at 40..."

I thought I was the only one that have 20+ characters for a story(stories).