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Q&A Single character POV vs. two POVs - how to decide?

If you're looking to sow a lot of suspicion, I think you should use single character POV (with a judicious number of scenes outside that POV if absolutely necessary). Harry Potter is a great exampl...

posted 13y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:00Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/4110
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 · 2019-12-08T01:58:26Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/4110
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T01:58:26Z (almost 5 years ago)
If you're looking to sow a lot of suspicion, I think you should use single character POV (with a judicious number of scenes outside that POV if absolutely necessary). Harry Potter is a great example of this. Because Harry can only know so much, being one person and not being an adult, we are restricted to seeing the actions of others through Harry's limited perspective. We are constrained both by what he sees and what he knows.

Suspicion is pretty much caused by lack of information. The easiest way to prevent the reader and the character(s) from getting information is by narrowing our access to one point: the main character's experience.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2011-10-02T19:55:27Z (about 13 years ago)
Original score: 2