First person pov with more than one main chars
I really love -- and most of time write in -- first person point of view.
The novel I'm writing is somewhat different from what I'm used to. I have four main characters -- I don't see any of them as more important than the others -- each one of them with his own separate plot (even being related some way to fulfill the story).
Like I said, I like to write using first person. I was thinking to title each chapter with the name of the dominant char -- since each chapter will be told from a single character point of view -- and write the contents in first person.
Example: Mark - The Wishing Well
My doubt is: does this work, or it can be too confusing for the reader to deal with different characters in different chapters, all using first person point of view?
I have seen this type of subterfuge -- chapters titled with character names for more than one main char -- but always from 3rd person point of view. I'm really not sure if I should go on with first person or just drop it, using instead 3rd person.
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The key with first person point of view is that your character's voice has to come through. So if you write three separate first persons, they all have to sound different meaning the writing style has to be distinct for each one. You can't just slap a character name on the chapter and hope your reader can go by that alone if there is no other context or way to distinguish who's speaking.
It might be easier to choose a main narrator, write that one in first person and then write everyone else in third person.
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As lonehorseend said, it's important to make sure characters seem different - but adding the character's names is very important.
Case in point - go read some of the I Am Number Four novels, particular the second and third novels. They swap (in third person) to different characters, without even using asterisks as breaks. It's nearly impossible to determine which character is which, and it makes for a very confusing read.
Even if you have to fall to traditional tropes, make your characters unique. Eg, have a 'bitter and moody' character, a 'mysterious past' character, a 'ditzy, but means-well' character etc. Overplay it a little bit, but the reader will clearly understand the differences between the POVs.
To be honest, I would go with placing the character's name at the start of the chapter - if you even think for a moment that a reader might get confused, then don't be ambiguous about it, and put the name there. There's no harm in putting it in.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/8516. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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I've read at least one book which successfully did this; the author just titled each chapter "Bruno" and "Melusine," depending on whose perspective it was. The timeline was mostly chronological, although there was some overlap so we see how one felt about the other's actions. It worked perfectly fine for me.
It's not subterfuge. Label each chapter, throw in a time stamp if you want to be crystal clear, and you're fine.
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