Multiple POV is tiring as hell.

[BlackKnightX]

I'm saying this as a reader, multiple POV/ensemble/large-casts story is really tiring. It always drains me.

I've just started rereading Lookism a few days ago, and it's been fun overall. But it also got me thinking about one problem I always seem to have with fictional story: the huge casts.

Don't get me wrong, though, I love a story with lots of characters in it, but when you focus on them all to flesh each of them out, that's when it gets tiring. My favorite story is one with a large cast but still focuses on the protagonist or just a few main characters. One Piece, for instance, has a ridiculously large cast, but almost every chapter is linked to the Straw Hat's journey. The story might shows us something else going on in the world from time to time, but it's merely a glimpse, it's not the main focus.

On the other hand, Lookism has a large cast too, but the way it handles that is very different from One Piece. We've got Daniel Park as the protagonist. The first few chapters focus entirely on him, and that's good. We get to see his motivation and how the story is going. We get invested in this character. And then, the story starts to introduce new characters and tell us their story in details. That's fine, since it will make those characters feel fleshed out, but all those times focusing on the other characters, we're staying away from Daniel, the protagonist, and it also feels like I'm wasting my time.

Maybe, the real problem is that when you shift the focus of the story to the other characters, it feels like I'm reading a new story when I haven't finished the last one yet. It feels like an effort to have to invest in another story. Now, this might be a good thing if I like the character, but if I don't, then it gets tiring real fast.

A better way would be to focus on the MC, and if you want to flesh out other characters, do it in a way that involve the MC, somehow. That way the main storyline (MC's story) doesn't come to a sudden stop, while at the same time we get to know about other storylines as well (other characters's stories).

Do you feel the same? What's your thought on this?

 

[ZukoMee]

If you read something with multiple POV's, then you're reading something with multiple POV's. Ask the author for clarification if you can, if you want to know how much time is spent away from the MC, but otherwise...you're getting what was already plainly advertised early on and then being upset by it. Makes no sense to me.

Personally, I love stories with multiple MC's AND multiple POV'S, but something tells me your brain would melt like jello put in an oven if you tried to read something like that.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

No. It's skill issue.

 

[BlackKnightX]

Personally, I love stories with multiple MC's AND multiple POV'S, but something tells me your brain would melt like jello put in an oven if you tried to read something like that.

Interesting. But what if you're not that interested in the character, though? Won't you think you're wasting your time, then? Or you just keep going anyway? If so, what if this keeps happening? Won't you get tired? Tell me.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

It sounds like you were reading multiple POV stories that were not well done.

 

[KrakenRiderEmma]

It takes more endurance, but if the storytelling is good then there's a payoff in the end when you get to see multiple fleshed-out characters interact. Brandon Sanderson, although kind of basic fantasy in a lot of ways, is very very good at this.

 

[BlackKnightX]

It sounds like you were reading multiple POV stories that were not well done.

That's what I thought as well. Give me an example of a very well-done multiple POV story.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

A slightly more serious answer. I've read lookism, and I didn't experinece any of your problems. But I want to talk about my experience with the novel Release that Witch. I've finished it all and liked it, but at some point, I stopped caring about MC. While side characters kept getting more interesting.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

That's what I thought as well. Give me an example of a very well-done multiple POV story.

Don't ask me. I don't like reading.

 

[BlackKnightX]

Don't ask me. I don't like reading.

Read the first sentence in my last reply.

No. It's skill issue.

What, in your opinion, is the best way to handle multiple POV?

 

[Mystic_Grasshopper]

Honestly it's like you say, it feels like the main story is taking the back seat in favor of another. This usually happens in stories that don't have a clear purpose, or conflict that encompasses the larger cast. It makes sense to have several pov shifts when the conflict is something like a war going on, you would care that one character is supplying the trenches while the other is bombarding them with artillery shells. The way the war is affecting the mc will be the focus of the main story but the consequences of his actions might be told through the alternate pov.

It also makes sense to use the other povs in service to the main character's role in the story and or society within the story. Although at that point it's personal preference on whether you like the tropes used in these tellings, some people hate the mc's opness being explored through someone who isn't op.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

That's what I thought as well. Give me an example of a very well-done multiple POV story.

Anything I write with multiple PoV, because I'm awesome.

 

[BlackKnightX]

Anything I write with multiple PoV, because I'm awesome.

How many "main" POV do you have, roughly?

Honestly it's like you say, it feels like the main story is taking the back seat in favor of another. This usually happens in stories that don't have a clear purpose, or conflict that encompasses the larger cast. It makes sense to have several pov shifts when the conflict is something like a war going on, you would care that one character is supplying the trenches while the other is bombarding them with artillery shells. The way the war is affecting the mc will be the focus of the main story but the consequences of his actions might be told through the alternate pov.

It also makes sense to use the other povs in service to the main character's role in the story and or society within the story. Although at that point it's personal preference on whether you like the tropes used in these tellings, some people hate the mc's opness being explored through someone who isn't op.

Exactly. In term of storytelling, we can also look at it as the main plot and subplots. Subplots enrich the story and flesh out the other side characters, but if those subplots are separated from the main plot, it will feel like they are different stand-alone stories, like spin-offs. So when we focus on them, it feels like counting down when this distraction is going to end. But when the subplots link and support the main plot, it doesn't feel like I'm wasting my time.

 

[greyblob]

done right, it's absolutely phenomenal. done poorly, it's unbearable

 

[TheEldritchGod]

How many "main" POV do you have, roughly?

Main? Define Main. Most of my Multiple PoVs are for a chapter at most
I suppose then only IWS qualifies as a multiple PoV with 2 "Main" PoVs.

done right, it's absolutely phenomenal. done poorly, it's unbearable

The trick is to use multiple PoVs for the same SCENE. If the PoVs are not joined by something, then its just two different stories in the same book. You need those cross threads. The multiple PoVs is to give the player insight into what is going on.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

What, in your opinion, is the best way to handle multiple POV?

Do you mean reading stories with multiple POVs? Or writing?

 

[BlackKnightX]

Main? Define Main. Most of my Multiple PoVs are for a chapter at most
I suppose then only IWS qualifies as a multiple PoV with 2 "Main" PoVs.

If you focus on them for only a chapter or two, then they're not main POVs. By main POVs, I mean the characters who carry the entire story. Like, in One Piece example, although Luffy is the protagonist, we also follow all the Straw Hat members individually throughout the entire story.

Do you mean reading stories with multiple POVs? Or writing?

Both.

 

[BearlyAlive]

Multiple POVs is actually high skill writing/reading. I know enough peeps that quit Song of Ice and Fire (GoT) because there were too many POVs.

For writing it helps me to write them to try to emulate the character voice during their chapters. Like using slang describing shit in da gangsta's POV or using "difficult" words more often if a smart character has theirs.

Reading POVs is just a matter of identifying the story strangs and following them as if you'd read multiple different stories.

 

[Succubiome]

I don't usually feel this way about stories, but I do feel this way about RTSes to the extent I basically don't play them.

Makes sense to me, though? Like, swapping between different threads can make you refocus, and continually refocusing can be draining.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Both.

I don't know about writing since I prefer to wing it. As for reading, you can't do anything. What greyblob said, it depends on the quality. I also want to correct myself since I misread what you wrote.

I've just started rereading Lookism a few days ago, and it's been fun overall.

I thought you wrote reading here. This means that I agree with you. Lookism handles multiple POVs very poorly. I won't say it's bad from the start though. It falls apart somewhere in the middle.