Many stories have one main character, with the narrative focusing on their experiences. Others have two key characters working together. A protagonist, or primary main character. And a deuteragonist, or secondary main character. Sometimes there is a third main character, or tritagonist.
There are several ways stories with multiple main characters can be written. They can be told entirely from the protagonist’s point of view. Or by switching between the main characters’ perspectives.
I’ve recently discovered how much harder it is to write from the perspective of multiple characters. So how do authors navigate multiple character point of view?
Omniscience or Limitation?
The obvious choice where there is more than one main character might be the omniscient point of view. This is where the narrator can follow any or all of the characters, and tell the reader everything. But do you actually want to know everything?
In mysteries and thrillers, what you don’t know may be as important as what you do know. It is possible to write in omniscient point of view but ignore certain characters’ perspectives, some of the time. For example, there could be two things happening at once, and we can only focus on one of them. But generally with omniscient POV, it’s hard to hide much from readers.
Omniscient POV also excludes deep POV. This is when we get inside the main characters’ heads. We can’t know what every character is thinking and feeling. Not if we want to maintain any sense of suspense or curiosity.
Like most choices that initially seem obvious, omniscient POV isn’t always the easy path. So, what other options are there for multiple character perspectives?
Multiple-part books
One alternative is splitting a book into parts, and assigning a different character to each part. This allows more than one character’s perspective to be shown, while keeping control of which events we are aware of. This is called the third person limited point of view.
Third person limited is often used where there is one main character, and we follow only them. We have no idea what the other characters are doing any time they are not interacting with the protagonist.
But this type of perspective can also be used to follow two or more characters. As long as we only focus on our main characters, and no-one else. I’ve seen this done with six characters and it worked really well.
This choice can be very effective when the POV characters are in different time periods or places, and rarely, or never, interact with each other. I use this method in my older kids’ travel mystery series, The Lost Mysteries.
Alternating chapters
Another option, still using third person limited, is to alternate between characters’ points of view. This style is very hard to write. Firstly, scenes have to be grouped into chapters, or multiple small parts. And they must be grouped by character – not by plot point. But the plot points still have to happen in the right order, and the pace must still be maintained. This takes either a lot of planning or a lot of rewriting.
The main considerations are the timeline, and the number of events each character is involved in. The timelines need to match up so the story can be told in chronological order. Or they can be completely separate so the story alternates between timelines, as well as characters. Either way, if one character has a lot more going on than another, alternating isn’t going to work well.
Shared scenes are also a challenge with this option. Usually, shared scenes are told from the protagonist’s point of view, creating a clear hierarchy of characters. This may mean events have to happen in a different order, to allow for the right POV to be in play at the right time. Otherwise, additional chapters might have to be added.
To make this option even more challenging, readers may have an expectation that all chapters will be roughly the same length. And the point of view character will change each chapter. Fitting plot points into such a rigid structure is not an easy task. If it’s done well, it makes for compelling reading. But it’s very easy to do badly.
The impact on a series
Writing in series is often considered a quick way to get multiple books published. In reality, decisions for the first book can take a long time. Because they have to work for the rest of the series too. A series that may be little more than a bunch of ideas when the first book is being written.
Once the point of view choice is made for the series starter, the author is stuck with that decision for all the other books too. So they have to be really happy with it.
Is there a right choice?
This is one of those situations where there is no general rule to follow. Only what’s right or wrong for the specific story. And even then, different authors would make different choices. Whatever decision is made, there will always be some readers who love it. And some readers who don’t.
Is there a multiple character point of view style you prefer to read? Have you seen multiple POV done any other way?
Enjoyed this post?
You might also like: The Time and Perspective Paradox.
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Deborah Grant-Dudley 