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William Evans's avatar

So, an example of needing more than one POV: a love scene with two protagonists. Though you don't want to repeat the same action for each person - too slow - and going back and forth too frequently can leave readers dizzy. There's no easy way, and lots of drafts to get it close to meaningful. Good dialogue helps.

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Alison Acheson's avatar

Yes--unless it's truly revealing, you don't want to repeat the same scene. Though at times it's useful to do this just for your own eyes and knowledge.

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David Perlmutter's avatar

My first attempt at a novel did have multiple POVs, but I justified that by constructing it as an oral history document.

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Alison Acheson's avatar

Did they connect at some point?

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David Perlmutter's avatar

Yeah. They were all exiles on the same planet, so inevitably they would interact.

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Terry Dove's avatar

An important post, Alison. Thanks for this. Your statement, "..your POV folks need a reason for this status; why does your reader need to be inside this person’s mind, heart, and soul," is crucial to story planning.

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Alison Acheson's avatar

YEs, once we open the door to multiple characters, it's easy to let one slip in... one too many, it can be.

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