Comments on Introducing a new POV near the end of a story
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Introducing a new POV near the end of a story
This question is strongly related to this one: Balance between character's point of views
However, that question is asking about balancing POVs in general, whereas this one is about potentially subverting reader expectations by introducing a new viewpoint late into the story.
I'm currently plotting a Romance story. Given the events I'm planning to take place I can already see which character perspective would be best suited for each chapter. It looks like for purposes of character development, the majority of the story (basically, the first 75%) will be told through character A's perspective. However, in the last quarter of the story an event takes place that's only experienced by character B, so there's no way (other than completely changing the entire premise) to get around adding their POV near the end. (I guess I could have character B tell character A about it, but that doesn't sound particularly appealing, either.) This is not a problem in itself. In fact, I rather like that this gives me an opportunity to show the romance from the other perspective.
However, since the first 75% of the story are told from one character's POV, I wonder if the sudden introduction of a different viewpoint would be jarring to the reader.
FWIW, the story is going to be told entirely in 3rd person limited. Both characters appear in all chapters, so this is not about introducing a new character, simply about switching to their viewpoint.
I had been planning to have each chapter dedicated entirely to follow one POV, but now I'm wondering whether it might be worthwhile to add the occasional POV switch early on (on scene changes within a single chapter) to get the reader used to this taking place. I've already identified a few points in the story that would lend themselves to a POV switch, but from a story perspective it's not strictly necessary and I'd prefer to avoid doing so unless there's a strong reason to do so.
And of course, all of this might change completely once I actually start writing this story.
POV is all about letting the reader see the things they want to see. One changes POV so that the reader can see things f …
4y ago
I think you answered your own question: > I'm wondering whether it might be worthwhile to add the occasional POV switch …
4y ago
It's absolutely fine to introduce a new POV late in a story IF: 1. It's the POV of a now well-known character, whose mo …
4y ago
I constantly run into questions like this. They intimate to me too much fancy booklearnin' and nowhere nearly enough thi …
4y ago
I recently re-read Mistborn in preparation to record a bookclub podcast on the novel. Imagine my surprise to discover …
4y ago
I DON'T think it is okay to introduce a second POV in what is basically the third act and approach to the climax of the …
4y ago
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/48602. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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I constantly run into questions like this. They intimate to me too much fancy booklearnin' and nowhere nearly enough thinking.
THE POV IS HELD BY THE LAST PERSON TO PERFORM AN ACTION.
Cindy woke in unfamiliar surroundings. As she hunted for her underwear in the dim light her mind replayed the previous evening's events. She shrugged. It wasn't like John hadn't cheated on her before. But not since the wedding. This wasn't payback it was . . . excusable, justifiable. Fuck it. He'd never find out.
John glared at the front door. He checked his watch, 5am, still his wife was not home. This wasn't like Cindy. Cindy wouldn't do anything untoward, if she knew about his premarital shenanigans . . . He pulled his phone. "The Hospitals, I need to check the hospitals."
- A simple change of POV - not complicated.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48606. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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