Watt's Happening?

Edition Four - The Great POV Debate!

The Great "POV" Debate!

Hands down the most often asked question of the moment I see on Wattpad is some variation of "Is it OK to use more than one POV in a story?"

The real and true answer to that question is - no. However, that's not really the question that is meant to be asked. What people really want to ask is "How many narrators can my story have?"

The answer to that is - as many as you would like, with the traditional number being one but also two and even three are sometimes used. What you really have to examine is why you want to use multiple narrators. Just because you CAN do something, doesn't always make it a good idea . . .

What is POV?

Point Of View is the perspective through which the readers will experience your story. Using more than one will lead to mass confusion (much like changing back and forth between past and present tense). Point of View comes in three basic flavors and there is some variations within each one.

1st Person POV

First person is all about "me, myself and I." The story is told through the eyes of one character (typically but not necessarily the main character). This character is telling the story and all action, perception and thought is filtered through them.

The drawback to first person is of course that you are limited in scope to that character and that character is limited to what they see, hear and know. It will be up to the creative writer to find ways to fill in the gaps. (You can use conversation, reactions, gossip, news events, etc.)

The rewarding upside to first person is that the reader will develop an intimate relationship with the narrating character because they are provided a deep insight into their lives and thoughts. First person lends itself well to emotional tales, coming of age tales, romance, paranormal (because of the unique ability to create gothic suspense) and biographies.

Stuff you didn't even know you wanted to know: More women than men tend to write in first person, just a little fun fact for you, and since a majority of the fiction on Wattpad is written by teen girls - that's why we have so much 1st person fiction when in the wide world of publishing 3rd person is actually more popular.

2nd Person POV

This POV is ridiculously confusing and rarely used. The writer uses a narrator that uses the pronoun "you" when speaking to a second character throughout the story - the idea is to make the reader feel like they are part of the story but it normally just ends up in a heap of confusion - usually it is used theatrically rather than in stories.

3rd Person POV

Ah, the Golden Child of published fiction. Contrary to the examples you see here on Wattpad, it is 3rd person that actually reigns supreme in the realm of the written make believe story. (I love first person myself, but hey, I'm also a woman that writes teen and paranormal fiction so I'm a statistic.) Third person puts a little distance between the writer and the reader and uses the pronouns "he" and "she." The "narrator" is typically an omniscient (all knowing) voice that unites the story arc. This all knowing narrator can get in the heads of every character and knows what is going on every where at all times.

Third person also comes in another flavor - third person limited, where the narrator sticks to one character the whole time kind of like 1st person but is still an outsider. This is good if you want the narrator to always know more or have more insight than the main character.

Third person lets you have a much larger ensemble cast with multiple complex plot lines if you so choose, with is much harder in first person.

Multiple Narrators

Now we're getting somewhere. Many of you have been reading this whole article seething in anger because you are still stuck on my sentence toward the top where I said you couldn't have more than one POV. Relax! Here is the part you really want to listen to . . .

I see many (many, many many) stories on Wattpad that are in 1st Person POV and start each new chapter (or much to the dismay of my tender writer's heart) each and every paragraph, with "Sam's POV" then "Ken's POV" then "Sam's POV" then "Ryan's POV" . . . you get the picture.

First of all - you aren't really changing the POV, you are changing the narrator. I know it's confusing - because technically the story is now being told "from the point of view of this person" but in writing terminology POV refers to the fact that you writing your story in 1st, 2nd or 3rd person. Typically, you are not changing that up throughout the story.

If you feel you must tell the reader that you are changing narrators go for it, you can just put their name in italics without the POV, you can leave the POV in, I really don't care...or you can let the reader figure it out on their own if you are really skilled. (But that does take some serious mind blowing William Faulkner-ish skills).

Yes, you can have more than one narrator. No, it is not common "in the real world of published fiction" to have more than one narrator. It is done, yes, but the norm is one POV and one narrator. So.....When is it a good idea to have more than one narrator and when is it not?

If all you want to do is get into the heads of a few characters or you can't figure out another way to let the audience know what's going on in one character's house while the main character is taking a nap - this is not a good enough reason. This can be done in third person omniscient POV.

If you have more than one character (two, at the very most three) that you need to have an intimate bond with the reader then go for it. If you can create more than one character that is extremely life-like then go for it. A story about a pair of lovers that are the central characters and are often separated is a good example; stories about tight knight small messed up families are another. (Obviously there are many more good times, just your best judgment.)

Using more than one narrator diminishes the purpose of 1st person POV where you want to create that deep understanding of one character through their words and actions - and the more narrators you add the more diluted the pool gets.

Make sure you have a purpose other than lack of writing ability for using more than one narrator. I don't mean to be harsh with that statement. The reason I say it is because the number one reason I see stories with multiple narrators is because the writer just didn't know how to write in first person without occasionally changing the narrator in order to continue the story. But don't get me wrong, I have also seen some beautiful examples of stories with more than one narrator as well. (Clarification, I'm talking about Wattpad not published stories.) In fact, the spotlighted story in this edition was picked because it is a good example of using more than one narrator.

Top two Tips for using more than one narrator:

One narrator per chapter! (Or, at least LONG sections per narrator, not just one or two paragraphs each.)

It's customary to use a pattern when you have more than two narrators. So if you have three then your chapters should go Person A, Person B, Person C, Person A, Person B, Person C etc...

@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @

This week's Story Spotlight was picked because not only is the story wonderful but I felt it was a good working example of a writer making multiple narrators work out well. Please take a look!

The Hunters

By paigemae23

http://www.wattpad.com/905807-prologue

The prologue of this story grabbed me by the throat from the first word and never let me up for air once! A paranormal adventure tale with star crossed love interests (is there any better kind?), supernatural powers and plenty of suspense!

@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Don't forget May 1st is the deadline for the contest!!