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Changing narrators
https://archive.holyworlds.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=6747		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  NotThatShort [ July 27th, 2012, 11:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Changing narrators
Hello everyone!
I have a novel, actually I'm not sure if it is a standalone volume of a series or if I will squish all the segments into one volume.
Anyway, it's first-person, narrated by the MC.
I was wondering how you all would feel if a book changed the first-person narrator's POV.
The thing is, there's so much that Natalia doesn't know. *evil laugh* SO much. :twisted: But it may benefit the audience to know what she doesn't.
(Probably not even my readers will understand this in its full depth.) :rofl:
Author:  Mistress Kidh [ July 29th, 2012, 1:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Changing narrators
I think it depends on whether you mean you want to change POV entirely for awhile, or if you just mean you want to change around and switch back and forth. If Nat is your main character, changing away from her for a long time would make a disconnect between her and the readers, I think. But if you are changing into a different section of the book or a different book, and would be willing to change the main character to someone else for it, then I think it would be fine. It would be like the Riddle of Stars trilogy. The first book had one main character, then the next book had a different one, then the third book had the same MC as the first book. You could also have multiple MC's that you switch between for different sections, like LotR.

Or you could just switch in and out of someone else's POV, if the only reason you want to have a different one is to divulge information – there is nothing wrong with switching POV's to secondary characters for scenes here and there, I think. However, having read your story so far, I don't know...up to now you have made no POV changes at all. Maybe if you did every once in awhile it would not seem out of the ordinary to do it now.
Author:  NotThatShort [ July 29th, 2012, 8:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Changing narrators
I see your point(s). What I was meaning is to switch to another POV for the entire second book. But inserting a chapter here and there from someone else's POV could work as well.
Author:  Lord Tarin [ October 11th, 2012, 11:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Changing narrators
Interestingly enough, I just posted a similar question (A Character Conundrum) on how to implement first person and whether or not to stick with a single POV. If you're going to write a single book, you could pull it off (the longer a series goes, the harder it gets). But if there's information you think is vital to the plot, which Natalia isn't aware of, you might want to consider third person, so the POV change isn't so jarring. I read a book awhile back that was divided into 3 sections, and each was told in first person from a different character's point of view. But in terms of hopping back and forth, I think that would be kind of confusing.

Now that doesn't apply for second, third, fourth books, and so on. If you want to have a different first person POV for each book, you could work that. The problem then becomes: who is the main character, and if the current POV selectee isn't the main character, what's so important about them? A series I read on King Arthur (book I mentioned above), used first person POV extensively, but not for the MC, because arguably, Arthur is the MC. So that's another approach to consider.
Author:  NotThatShort [ October 12th, 2012, 12:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Changing narrators
*rubs beard-I mean chin-thoughtfully* Hmm... Hmmmmmm... Yes, very interesting... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
:rofl:
Of course, I'm not going to jump POVs every chapter. That would just be ridiculous and confusing. o.O And, you know me. I'm totally not ridiculous or confusing. Never. Nope. Not ever.
*cough* Anyway, thanks for the post. :D
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