Switching POV?

[kitty_fic]

What are your thoughts on switching POV?

Do you stay within one POV in your fics? Or do you ever switch it up between chapters? How about switching POV in the same chapter, as long as it's still clear whose POV you are in?

Comments

[winterstorrm.livejournal.com]

I don't mind switching as long as it's chaptered/sectioned. It really throws me when it's Harry Harry Harry Harry Draco Harry Harry in one section. (Hope this is clear, am just thinking of my BB which is chaptered but has changes of POV that are marked clear ending of one and onto the other.)

Sometimes both POV is necessary, however I love a fic with just one POV so we have to be shown the other person's from what they do and say.

[oldenuf2nb.livejournal.com]

I tend to tell stories from one POV usually. My hd hols this year switched a bit, but very little. For me, when I start a story, I tend to stay inside one head.

[mijeli.livejournal.com]

I tell my fics from one POV only. First, I find it more comfortable to make my way through ONE mind; and second, for me it's part of the challenge to hint at the other person's feelings, without ever going into their head :) I want the reader and Harry to approach Draco together (or vice versa).

[mijeli.livejournal.com]

Yes, I don't doubt there are these times :) I'm generally cautious, but I'm sure that in cases like yours, the switch absolutely works.

[sophia-clark.livejournal.com]

In the right circumstances, switching POV can be really effective. I've read a number of books & fanfics that switch & really enjoyed them. For example, Betwixt (http://www.amazon.com/Betwixt-Tara-Bray-Smith/dp/031606033X#_) by Tara Bray Smith switches POV for each chapter between the three main characters. I think it makes sense to switch in that case, when there is something big going on that the characters are a part of without realizing they are. That way, you can really show how each is effected by whatever's happening, as well as how they handle it.

From a reader's perspective, I don't mind switching as long as it's marked (i.e. writing "Draco" or "Harry" at the top of the section) or at least made clear there's been a switch another way (maybe with some of this ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~). Otherwise, it's way too confusing.

I hope I've been helpful!

[naturegirlrocks.livejournal.com]

I like to switch POV in my longer fics (+ 5.000 words), that way I can follow several story-lines at the same instead of one really long one. And sometimes it's funny how the characters react different to the same thing.

[scarletladyy.livejournal.com]

I do it only very rarely, but when I do do it, it's a chapter per person. I haven't read many fics with more than one POV, but I wouldn't mind doing so.

[yanagi-wa.livejournal.com]

It doesn't bother me as long as you make it clear who's POV it is.

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

I switch up POV whenever I feel like it, but I make sure that there is a clear break in the text which indicates the previous section has ended and a new segment is beginning. I typically, for chaptered fics, change POVs within the chapter itself. I like getting inside the heads of the other characters; it's an opportunity to practice writing in difference voices. Like, I struggle tremendously writing Harry's POV, so it's fun and a bit of a reprieve to changes POVs and go visit with Draco for a while. Or Snape, or Pansy, or Hermione, etc.

As long as it's clear whose POV it's in, I think it's fine to do. Some people are militantly against this, because, you know, fanfic iz srs bsns and all. You can't please all of the people all of the time! So write what you're interested in writing IMO :D

[scarletscarlet.livejournal.com]

From this reader's perspective, it really depends.

By chapter is easy; have read more books than I can count with that approach. It's easy to follow, easy to have different stories running alongside each other an interacting, and is clearly delineated by the chapter breaks.

Within chapters can be a bit trickier. I read a book the other day by an author I like, with multiple books and a coupla decades of publishing under his belt, who is good at pulling together a bunch of different strings. He doesn't always do this, but for this one he'd written in the first person. There were a few changes where, because it was only marked by a section break, it took a good paragraph or more to realise that he'd changed people. It pulled me out of the flow of the book, and was not good. I could see that ambiguity working well sometimes, but there it didn't.

I've read fanfics where it shifts POV from paragraph to paragraph, and that's almost always horrible to read - it tends to read like two people got together and roleplayed/took turns writing sections, and it can be repetitive and/or disjointed.

Having said that, though, I think it depends what you want to do with it. I'm sure there could be some really interesting experimental approaches done with multiple shifting POVs, though I'd be wary of it in anything other than some kind of third-person. Well. Really, really careful with it :).

Heh. Multiple POV rapidly changing 3rd person omniscient could be hilarious, if headache-inducing :).

off-topic

[valinorean.livejournal.com]

when I read the title of the post I thought you're going to ask what our pov on switching is :D

*is a perv with a one-track mind and is off-topic*

*runs away*

Joins you off-topic

[thisgirl-is.livejournal.com]

Switching FTW!

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

Personally, I tend to like switching PoVs, as long as it's interesting characters. It feels like it adds depth to stories, and, makes it more like a 'world' instead of a static story that only affects one person. Plus, inevitably, there will come a point when you need to tell *just one scene* from another PoV, maybe because your main narrator isn't around, and then that one scene will stand out awkwardly from all the rest. That's my thoughts on it anyway.

Edit to say, I never do this mid-scene. I only switch scenes when telling it from another's point of view would be just as good or better than from the main narrator's, when I'm trying to hide someone's thoughts on a matter so that it doesn't spoil an element too soon, and I always do it with the start of a new scene, broken by some obvious 'scene delineation' or whathaveyou. *** or --- or something similar.

[usakiwigirl.livejournal.com]

I don't always do it, but when I do, I ALWAYS put in a delineation - ***** - of some kind to show that it is a new person. Usually, that person's name will show up within the first sentence as well, which also helps the reader.

On the rare occasions I write in first person, I don't switch perspective. It's just too distracting, for me as a writer, to keep track. I think it would also make it very difficult for the reader to know, unless the section was titled with that character's name. It would definitely need more than just a line break.

[dysonrules.livejournal.com]

POV switching in the same scene is my #1 pet peeve. I have been known to copy fics into Word, CHANGE THEM, and save them so I can stand to read them with all the POV swapping. I hate reading a scene and being happily in one character's head and then having to backtrack and reread it once I realize the author has jumped brains.

Harry walked into the room and picked up an apple. Draco was looking fetching today in his bright green robes, even if he was still a git.

Harry was looking fetching today in black.

(WHY THE FUCK WOULD HARRY THINK THAT? WAS THERE A TYPO...??? OH WAIT, IT'S DRACO'S POV NOW. *gnashes teeth in rage and rereads the damn scene, switching heads when necessary*)

Yeah, if I do multi-POV, I use clear scene or chapter breaks. (I do tend to write from both POVs, but I very clearly delineate it. I use a single POV if I want the element of surprise by having the first character (and the readers) never quite knowing what the second character is thinking.

[celestlyn.livejournal.com]

I'm one of those weird people who write in and prefer the 3rd person, omniscient pov. I try to be very careful when writing that people are clear as to who is thinking or speaking, as that pov can be confusing if one isn't careful. I have caught myself switching pov in the same paragraph and I try not to do that. It's a hard pov to write well, but it feels much more comfortable to me than sticking entirely with one pov and feeling too restricted. I always feel restricted with 3rd person limited pov.

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

I'm fine with POV switching as long as it's delineated clearly. I really dislike random POV switches within sections or paragraphs, though. I especially dislike when the entire fic is written from one character's POV and then there's one single line all of a sudden from another's.

That said, I'm consistently surprised by published works that include many sudden POV switches within chapter's paragraphs. Anthony Horowtiz does it constantly (and, yeah, he's not the best writer, but he is extremely successful) and the novel I just finished, One Day by David Nicholls (which is very good and a best seller) contains POV switching within paragraphs. I always find it disconcerting and generally have to regroup and dive back into the text.

I truly admire a writer who can successfully pull off 3rd person omniscient POV. It's not easy. I find that you generally need to make the narrative voice into a character all on its own for it be really work. Even if it's not a character in the actual story, it's easier to read when you get the reader to identify with and enter into the POV of the narrator.

[thisgirl-is.livejournal.com]

Definitely agree with the consensus. Switching POV is fine as long as it is clear whose POV you are in at any given time. I really hate it when I'm reading along and suddenly it makes no sensem and I suddenly realise that the POV has changed and I have to go back and try and work out where the change happened, and how that changes what I've been reading. Unless everything else is damn good, it will usually send me reaching for the back button.

[sugareey.livejournal.com]

It really depends, I reckon. I usually like to stick with one POV since it's easier to get into their character thoughts and move the plot along. I think the only time I was set on having switching POVs was in by dracobigbang fic, where I felt it was imperative to have them both tell their story to defeat something evil.

So if you have a reason to switch POVs and it works, it should be a-okay. But it's definitely not something you want to randomly throw around because that can easily make your reader get extremely lost.

[skriftlig.livejournal.com]

Totally depends. I think both can be great. (How helpful!)

But, like most other people, I need it to be quite clear whose POV I'm reading and I prefer the switching to happen at an obvious point, like a chapter or scene change.