question on alternating POV

POV ideally should be in that of the character who has most at stake in any scene, so yes, put that scene in the male POV if it makes it stronger.

The question is, have you been trying for something like that all along, or just alternating by rote? If the latter, take a good hard look at what you've already written to make sure it's as effective as it could be.

And ask yourself why you've been changing POV so frequently--as a reader, I would find a switch every 1,000 words jarring, and would far prefer to stick with one POV for an entire chapter.

Best of luck with it!

I like to have an about equal number of POV scenes for the two leads in my stories, but I don't alternate scene by scene. Sometimes it's just not even practical. Like in one book one of the lead characters goes missing, and I had to have a few scenes in a row in the other character's POV before I revealed what had happened to the missing guy. If I'd gone back to his POV too soon I'd have lost the tension about where he was and what had happened to him.

So one character can have more of the POV in one section of the story, but in the end if I count it up I always find they have about equal. And I try not to go for too long in one POV without a good reason, so I don't sort of lose the other character from the story.

I have different chapters in different POVs through my book, and in a couple of chapters I've switched POVs a couple of times. By not sticking to a pattern, I've not set up any expectations. And they only time I've done it is when I think it would be very interesting to see the action from two POVs.

I'd say don't do it just to do it. Do it when it makes sense for the story and the reader won't mind.

I typically switch POVs at chapter breaks, but I do have chapters where the same POV will be used back-to-back. Whichever character has the most at stake in each chapter is the one who gets the POV.

Genuinely curious, why do so many writers focus on alternating points of view? I agree that one should not do multiple head hops in a single scene, however if done really well - like Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood, etc - it can actually enhance the story and is not jarring at all.

I was re-reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell recently and she head hops and it actually is really good to know what both Margaret Hale and Mr. Thornton are thinking in any given scene.

ktgrok said:

I'm including both hero and heroine points of view. So far, I'd been alternating them scene by scene, with each scene about 1,000 words. But I' at a place where it makes more sens to have this particular scene in the male character's POV

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Writers worry about things the Readers never notice.

Do what's best for the story
and don't worry about consistency or rules or anystufflikethatthere.

Sapphire135 said:

Genuinely curious, why do so many writers focus on alternating points of view? I agree that one should not do multiple head hops in a single scene, however if done really well - like Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood, etc - it can actually enhance the story and is not jarring at all.

I was re-reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell recently and she head hops and it actually is really good to know what both Margaret Hale and Mr. Thornton are thinking in any given scene.

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While a lot of these "rules" are treated as if they have pertained since the dawn of time and will never change until the universe itself dies, many of them are actually just the current fashion.

Right now in Romance the current fashion is third person limited with the POV of both characters represented pretty equally in the story. Some publishers make a point of saying they want to see plenty of the hero's POV as well as the heroine's. But a couple of decades ago the fashion was that the whole story be in the heroine's POV. (Though still third person limited.)

Gaskell might be doing what gets called head hopping now, but really she's only using omniscient POV, which is perfectly legitimate to use, but less widely accepted this days.

I agree with Marlys when she said to write about the POV from the character who has the biggest stake in that particular scene. I also agree with "Don't change POV just to change POV."

You want your readers to care about your main characters. Ask yourself what is their main conflict? What do you need your readers to know at that particular moment in your piece? Whose side is most important at that moment?

I'm currently writing a contemporary romance called On Track With Icing, a NASCAR-themed novel where I also switch between my male and female leads at very random intervals, sometimes two or three times during the course of the chapter. The love scenes are mainly from her POV, but I go back and forth for the racing action depending on what I feel is most important that my reader know at that moment in time.

There is also a scene where he joins her family for Thanksgiving dinner. She's closer to her family than he is to his, so they go to her parents' house. I did that scene entirely from his POV due to the fact that he has more tension surrounding him. He's under pressure to make a good impression on her parents.

SPOILER ALERT: During the racing scene, I do the prerace festivities and opening ceremonies from her POV, but I switch to his during the rest of the chapter, which involves some intense racing action. I close the chapter with one HELL of a cliffhanger, again from his POV.

I had the same quandary. I even looked at my scenes over all and tried to plot my chapters so that a pattern would appear. And then, I said stuff this, I have to go with the flow of the story, and as others have mentioned here, who has most at stake. I have used symbols for each scene break, so that if the reader needed a reminder, it was there to tell them whose POV the next scene would be. Although I also make sure the first sentence is in direct style and shows clearly whose mind we are in.
As others have said, do go with what makes the scene the most poignant, no matter who 'speaks'.

As for omni and head hopping.... other posters have a point, but I still changed all my head hopping scenes to specific POV, and made sure that the emotions that were erased through thight POV was portrayed elsewhere, or 'read' by the POV character through the protagonist's behaviour or words/ tone.

ktgrok said:

I'm including both hero and heroine points of view. So far, I'd been alternating them scene by scene, with each scene about 1,000 words. But I' at a place where it makes more sens to have this particular scene in the male character's POV, even though the last scene was his as well. That actually happened in one earlier place as well, where i did two scenes in a row with the female POV.

Any thoughts?

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I, as a reader, love POV from both sides of the table. I love knowing what each of the MC's are thinking while the story progresses. Knowing when to change POV's can be tricky and I personally let the characters themselves dictate who gets first in a scene. Which ever one of them "yells" the loudest!

Interesting conversation.

Planning out my novel attempt for Novemeber's NaWriMo and I am thinking of alternating POV's.

Since I am writing from both sides of the Centaur / Lapith war, my main characters are a Centaur and a Lapith. I want to show the similarities in their lives leading up to the wedding banquet, so I was planning to write one chapter from the Centaur side, one from the Lapith side and back and forth. Both main characters are women, so its not like they will end up together in the end.

What are your thoughts on this type of "alternating POV?"

Elly_Green said:

Interesting conversation.

Planning out my novel attempt for Novemeber's NaWriMo and I am thinking of alternating POV's.

Since I am writing from both sides of the Centaur / Lapith war, my main characters are a Centaur and a Lapith. I want to show the similarities in their lives leading up to the wedding banquet, so I was planning to write one chapter from the Centaur side, one from the Lapith side and back and forth. Both main characters are women, so its not like they will end up together in the end.

What are your thoughts on this type of "alternating POV?"

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If I may be so bold, but why not?

Why not?

Elly_Green said:

Interesting conversation.

Planning out my novel attempt for Novemeber's NaWriMo and I am thinking of alternating POV's.

Since I am writing from both sides of the Centaur / Lapith war, my main characters are a Centaur and a Lapith. I want to show the similarities in their lives leading up to the wedding banquet, so I was planning to write one chapter from the Centaur side, one from the Lapith side and back and forth. Both main characters are women, so its not like they will end up together in the end.

What are your thoughts on this type of "alternating POV?"

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Nothing wrong with this. Writers do it all the time. The only thing I'd say that's the most important is to keep it interesting for the reader. Make sure there's still conflict/tension and a reason for the reader to want to turn the page and you're good to go.

Lillith1991 said:

If I may be so bold, but why not?

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Because I rewrite or eroticize myths already told.

In the original myth, neither ends up together. The Centaur is very much in love with her mate and when he is mortally wounded by a spear, she chooses to commit suicide beside him. Meanwhile, the Lapith is promised to a suitor. It is their wedding where another Centaur attempts to snatch away the bride (questionable here as to whether or not she wants to be snatched away...), thus starting off the war between the races.

Both sides lose loved ones. The Centaurs and Lapiths are technically of the same family. The story just goes to illustrate the "barbaric" nature of the other side.

Elly_Green said:

Because I rewrite or eroticize myths already told.

In the original myth, neither ends up together. The Centaur is very much in love with her mate and when he is mortally wounded by a spear, she chooses to commit suicide beside him. Meanwhile, the Lapith is promised to a suitor. It is their wedding where another Centaur attempts to snatch away the bride (questionable here as to whether or not she wants to be snatched away...), thus starting off the war between the races.

Both sides lose loved ones. The Centaurs and Lapiths are technically of the same family. The story just goes to illustrate the "barbaric" nature of the other side.

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That makes perfect sense to me, thank you for answering. I hope you didn't think it a rude question.

Elly_Green said:

Planning out my novel attempt for Novemeber's NaWriMo and I am thinking of alternating POV's.

Since I am writing from both sides of the Centaur / Lapith war, my main characters are a Centaur and a Lapith. I want to show the similarities in their lives leading up to the wedding banquet, so I was planning to write one chapter from the Centaur side, one from the Lapith side and back and forth. Both main characters are women, so its not like they will end up together in the end.

What are your thoughts on this type of "alternating POV?"

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Not entirely clear on the question. So do you have a hero and a heroine? Are you asking for opinions on alternating POVs between the heroine and another female character, instead of alternating between hero and heroine? Or is it not an m/f romance?