So, you decided that you want to use the third person restrictive, and switch between characters. This is a great way to tell a story - but it can get tricky. There aren't really any strict RULES about how to do this. After all, this is creative writing. But here are some general guidelines, based more on my opinion than on anything else - so take them or leave them.
The most important thing to remember when you're writing is that, most likely, you're not writing just for yourself - but for an audience. You have to consider who your audience is, and do your best to make your message as clear as possible and easy to follow. One of the surest ways to confuse people is by switching points of view too often, or randomly. If you do a read through and note that you are jumping around from person to person too much, the third person omniscient might be a better choice for you - and usually requires only minor adjustments.
How much is too much? You have to use your best judgment. Generally, more than once every five or six paragraphs is too much for me. Remember that every time you change points of view, you're holding up the reader, asking them to make an adjustment in their mind. Doing this too often will tire and frustrate them, and they might stop reading because of it. Obviously, line by line shifting is a no-no, and even a paragraph at a time is exhausting. But if you really must, I strongly advice that you make the shift clear in the very first line of the very first paragraph from the new POV. You don't want to sneak up on the reader and make them backtrack.
My general advice is this: decide on a system. Your readers will pick up on patterns, even subtle ones, without even knowing it. Here are some examples:
- Pick a divider or sign that the point of view has changed, like a " *** " or a line break.
- Write one chapter in one characters POV, then switch for the next chapter, and continue to alternate.
- Always start a chapter in one POV, and jump through the others in the same order, ending with the final POV.
As you gain more experience toying with this, you will find other ways to do subtle, smooth transitions. Here are a few tricks that work for me:
Overlap
This is where you backtrack a little bit in the new point of view. It allows the reader to make the switch comfortably, going over something they already know, instead of being asked to take in something new along with the POV shift.
Example:
Sarah and Jack leaned over the precipice before them, and Sarah trembled with dread. They gazed down into the long, dark, bottomless pit, and she wondered if she could really do it. She had just found Jack. What if they didn't survive? Could these really be their last moments? The bats were screeching overhead, claws scratching on the wet rock anxiously as she contemplated their doom. The earth rumbled underneath them again and they turned to each other in unison. Jack's eyes were wild and searching. Were they actually going to jump?
Jack took hold of her hand and gazed down at her with a soft expression. She was thankful that, at least, in their last few moments, they were together. "Are you ready?" he asked her.
Sarah took a deep breath and held it, forcing herself to calm and face the certainty of their future. She gripped Jack's hand tightly, and nodded. With a death grip on each other's hands, they turned to face the cavernous emptiness, their shared fate and newly discovered love giving Sarah courage. They leapt off the ledge.
As they turned to face the open air before them, the ground gave another heave, or so Jack thought. It could have been his stomach. He squeezed Sarah's hand and pressed his eyes closed as they leapt from the ledge. And then they were falling. He tightened his grip on her when she screamed and pulled her closer, wrapping her in his arms as they plummeted, faster and faster into the pitch black. The cold, dank air whooshing past him felt like death's embrace, and his whole body pulsed with adrenaline. They were going to die.
Before continuing on, in the very first sentence, you are telling the reader what they already know, but also that you've just switched points of view. It gives them a short breathing space to adjust, without breaking up the narrative.
Inner Dialogue
Quick and dirty, it's exactly how it sounds. The instant you switch point of views, jump into the new character's head. This lets the reader know immediately what you've done and eliminates any confusion that might have arisen in the next few lines.
Example:
Sarah and Jack leaned over the precipice before them, and Sarah trembled with dread. They gazed down into the long, dark, bottomless pit, and she wondered if she could really do it. She had just found Jack. What if they didn't survive? Could these really be their last moments? The bats were screeching overhead, claws scratching on the wet rock anxiously as she contemplated their doom. The earth rumbled underneath them again and they turned to each other in unison. Jack's eyes were wild and searching. Were they actually going to jump?
Jack took hold of her hand and gazed down at her with a soft expression. She was thankful that, at least, in their last few moments, they were together. "Are you ready?" he asked her.
Sarah took a deep breath and held it, forcing herself to calm and face the certainty of their future. She gripped Jack's hand tightly, and nodded. With a death grip on each other's hands, they turned to face the cavernous emptiness, their shared fate and newly discovered love giving Sarah courage. They leapt off the ledge.
Oh, holy crap! We're going to die, Jack thought as his feet met nothing but air. His stomach lurched at the feeling of gravity taking hold of them. He squeezed Sarah's hand and pressed his eyes closed as they leapt from the ledge. And then they were falling. He tightened his grip on her when she screamed and pulled her closer, wrapping her in his arms as they plummeted, faster and faster into the pitch black. The cold, dank air whooshing past him felt like death's embrace, and his whole body pulsed with adrenaline. That was it - they were going to die.
Note: This is where it comes in very handy to still have a separate 'voice' for each of your restrictive points of view. It allows the reader to get a feel for the individual character voices and know instinctively that you've made a shift. The less you ask them to think, the better.
Splicing
This is a longer transition, that involves interspersing the objective or omniscient POV between two restrictive points of view. It guides the reader comfortably, first away from the one POV and then into the next. The overall point is that you don't want to jar the reader or interrupt their logic.
Example:
Sarah and Jack leaned over the precipice before them, and Sarah trembled with dread. They gazed down into the long, dark, bottomless pit, and she wondered if she could really do it. She had just found Jack. What if they didn't survive? Could these really be their last moments? The bats were screeching overhead, claws scratching on the wet rock anxiously as she contemplated their doom. The earth rumbled underneath them again and they turned to each other in unison. Jack's eyes were wild and searching. Were they actually going to jump?
Jack took hold of Sarah's hand and gazed down at her. "Are you ready?" he asked her. She took a deep breath and held it, then nodded. With their hands clasped together, they turned to face the cavernous emptiness, and leapt off the ledge.
We're going to die, Jack thought as they started to fall. His stomach lurched at the feeling of gravity taking hold. He squeezed Sarah's hand and pressed his eyes closed as they leapt from the ledge. And then they were falling. He tightened his grip on her when she screamed and pulled her closer, wrapping her in his arms as they plummeted, faster and faster into the pitch black. The cold, dank air whooshing past him felt like death's embrace, and his whole body pulsed with adrenaline. That was it - they were going to die.
You can even slip in and out of the restrictive to narrate in the omniscient for a while, and then go back to the restrictive. In fact, some writers even switch back and forth from first person to one or more of the third person perspectives, but that gets trickier, and almost ALWAYS demands a set system or designator so that the reader understands what's going on. You can even tie POV shifts into shifts in tenses (my next topic). However, as a general rule - the less you change POV, the better - so pick something that fits the bulk of your story and stick to it.
Remember, every time you change the POV, you distract from the story. If you have to do it, or simply want to - just make sure you keep the reader in mind, and be as clear as possible about what you're doing.
What's Your Point of View? Part III
- Where?:Insomnia
- Feeling . . . :
frustrated - Listening to:Rain
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