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Q&A Does point of view matter drastically?

If you look at older literature, Victor Hugo for example, stories do not necessarily start with the main character, and switch between multiple POVs. So in and of itself, there is nothing wrong wit...

posted 6y ago by Galastel‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T21:57:26Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/38614
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T09:43:42Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/38614
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T09:43:42Z (almost 5 years ago)
If you look at older literature, Victor Hugo for example, stories do not necessarily start with the main character, and switch between multiple POVs. So in and of itself, there is nothing wrong with using multiple POVs and switching between them.

At the same time, you need to be clear on whose thoughts and emotions we follow in each scene. Head-hopping, that is jumping from the inner thoughts of one character to another within the same scene, can become very confusing to the reader.

Some scenes are better told from the POV of one character than another. That makes for a way to hide information from a character, while giving it to the reader. However, if then your character is trying to find out what the reader already knows, the scene is going to feel redundant.

**tl;dr:** you can switch POVs as often and to as many POVs as suits your story. However, make sure there is never a confusion on whose POV you're following at any given moment, and avoid redundancy, with characters telling each other, or asking about, something the reader alredy knows through a different POV.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-08-31T12:59:38Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 3