Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

60%
+1 −0
Q&A Adding a PoV after the first novel in a series

First of all, I think that there is no definitive answer to a question like this. Stories are different, and a mechanism that worked fine in one story might fail in another. You will have to try ou...

posted 8y ago by Filip‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:11:26Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/21694
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Filip‭ · 2019-12-08T05:11:26Z (about 5 years ago)
First of all, I think that there is no definitive answer to a question like this. Stories are different, and a mechanism that worked fine in one story might fail in another. You will have to try out what works best for your story.

That being said I don't see a reason why introducing a new POV in the second book of your series should not work out. Think of the following examples:

- _His Dark Materials_ by Philip Pullman introduced a never-before-heard-of POV in his second book. When I read the book as a teenager, I was surprised by this, but not taken aback. On the contrary, I enjoyed the surprise and was very curious about how Will's story would be merged with Lyra's. By introducing a new POV, Pullman created additional suspense that worked out very well for me. 
- Speaking of suspense, the TV series _[The Affair](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2699110/?ref_=nv_sr_1)_ uses an interesting concept to create curiosity in the viewer: The series follows the affair between the two main characters. While this is not terribly interesting on its own, the first episode shows the same events twice: From his perspective first, then from hers. The suspense for me in this approach lay in the fact that these two viewpoints were not congruent: They depicted the same events, but they interpreted them in radically different ways. That hooked me so thoroughly that I watched the entire first season within a few days. 
- A similar approch is used in the excellent Norwegian movie _[Troubled Water](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0948544/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_16)_: Instead of switching frequently between the two POVs, we see Jan's perspective first. Only after this story is fully told, Agnes takes over and tells her story. 

Coming back to your question, considers as well that series generally work differently from stand-alone works. While both need to follow a clear structure, series allow you - and the readers - to spend much more time with your characters. Hence, when your new POV is interesting and adds to your overall story - go for it.

Additionally, long series need to keep surprising their readers. An example for this would be _[Lost](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411008/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)_: In the first season, Lost keeps throwing new POVs at us. At the end of the season, we are hooked by the mystery of the island and the various stories of the characters and have well understood the basic mechanism of the show: Continue the island-based storyline of the show, while thoroughly developing the individual characters. That is fine and works out for the next two seasons. By the end of third season, however, a certain weariness kreeps up on the viewer: We feel that we know the characters well, interest in their past fades. Lost does a very clever thing now: It replaces its well-working mechanism of seasons 1-3 by a new one. Instead of showing the past of the characters, they show their future. The trick is: At the beginning of the season, the audience doesn't know that. Suddenly, new mysteries are amassing and a whole range of new questions is brought up. Curiosity in the audience is re-invigorated.

So **overall** , I think that

- Introducing a new POV is a risk. You attached your readers to your main characters (or what they think is the main characters) and risk surprising them unpleasantly or even angering them by directing their attention away from the character they love. 
- _However_, introducing a new POV is also a natural way to create curiosity. Especially in long series, this is very necessary to keep your readers interested. Consider as well that in a long series, you have the opportunity to present your readers not with one but with a number of characters they can identify with. From a series, I actually expect that it presents me different viewpoints and a nuanced interpretation of the plot itself. 

In general, keep in mind that your series _as well as the individual parts of the series_ need to have a well-defined structure: If you switch POVs, it should be for a reason, and at the end of the second book, the reader should either be aware of this reason or be so madly in love with the new POV that he simply doesn't care why it is there at all. Mind, however, that readers are different from each other and there is a good chance that your new POV will not enchant every single one of them. In this case, the structure of your work must appease your readers.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2016-04-12T08:16:13Z (over 8 years ago)
Original score: 3