Single POV or multiple POV?

[Eldoria]

Single POV or multiple POV: which POV approach do you prefer in reading fictional narratives?

 

[Golden_Hyde]

depends on the scope. If I want to write a story bigger than the protagonist themselves, then not at all (staying in the third person perspective), otherwise if I want to be up close and personal, then either whatever between the first two.

 

[Corty]

When I use first-person POV I always have chapters from an omniscient POV when there is a big event, like armies that clash. It gives flavor to the story to see others perspective of what happens.

As for writing from an omniscient narrator’s POV, then I strictly stick to that.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I prefer it be consistent, either way.
Recall one story (a "free" book on Kindle that made me almost want a refund despite being free) that went from third person narration when dealing with most of the cast to first person narrative when dealing with one of the two (I think ... it wasn't always clear) sisters who were the "joint MCs" of the story. The 3p parts were nicely atmospheric, even if a bit bland and basic at times, but were also the minority (in page count at least, from the quarter of the way I got into it), but the 1p parts, which kind of rode along with one sister, then jumped to the other, were amateurish and unsatisfying.
But then the late Peter David wrote a novel I keep referencing, Howling Mad, which had third person parts with the "journalist" interviewing the main characters, with occasional chapters told from inside one character's head - and he had a lot of fun with that, and with jumping between them, and it worked.

 

[Deleted member 206441]

Depends.

 

[Arkus86]

Generally I prefer single PoV, possibly with an alternate PoV once in a while giving a different perspective on relevant events or characters. But if the scope of the story is large enough, then multiple PoVs are good - though not to the point where they would overshadow the mail character.

I once saw a story where the main character became barely a side note in a gallery of other character's PoVs, most of which were effectively their own self-contained story after briefly intersecting the "main" story line and having no lasting relevance in it. That was a really bad example of multiple PoVs.

 

[DaelyxLenAuphydas]

I almost never write a story with one strict protagonist. That's in large part because I friggin' love siblings and almost always have multiple siblings at the very least sharing protagonist status, so I usually write in third person limited, with the 'limited' being not to a single character but more the protagonist squad in general. I still write plenty of internal thoughts and consider that an important part of how its written.

I only have one exception, a single story I'm co-writing which very definitely has only a single main character, and that one is pure first person. I definitely don't like first person if there's multiple PoV's, if there's multiple viewpoint characters it has to be third person. Preferably third person limited but, unlimited is tolerable.

 

[VenerableOne]

Ever since reading omniscient readers view point i had a new appreciation for "the main pov is also narrator"

 

[Puji-Maki]

One pov, the 3rd omniscient narrator.

 

[LiteraryWho]

It rather depends. A lot of classic fiction is done from an omniscient pov frame, which is functionally similar to multiple pov in many ways. The more modern standard is third-person limited, but even then the narrative sometimes needs to move away from the MC to show the audience something.

In any case, the most important thing with pov is to be structured. From the reader's perspective, as long as the view isn't jittery, they shouldn't have any objections. That said, I think ESLs tend to struggle with complex English fiction. I suspect most of the readers here on SH, for instance, would be functionally illiterate for the purposes of reading a Jane Austin novel.

From a writer's perspective, I think pov is just one of the tools in your toolbox. If your story doesn't need the fancy drill bit that is multiple pov, it's probably best not to use it. That said, playing with pov is one of the things you can have fun with when writing, so I can't really judge if you do it anyway.

 

[blackcrowcrowd]

personally I love third person povs, but I think there should be some first persons from the perspective of non-MC characters

 

[FionaRobinsong]

Depends on the story I want to tell. I've done 1st person (not in a long time, mind you, because I personally find it clunky to write), 3rd limited (usually with 2-4 pov characters) or 3rd person omniscient. The last is my least favourite personally, because I like to use what the characters notice/assume as part of their character development, and you can't do that when the narrator knows/sees all.

 

[SwordSong]

I prefer to stick to one main perspective. Breaking away once in a while from the main character to show what other characters are doing/thinking is fine if the scope of the story is large enough, but having too many people "compete" for main character status is not something I enjoy. Unless it's the "X of the week" type story where every chapter is a self-contained and they all have their own protagonists.

 

[OniKaniki]

I think i have see this thread somewhere here. Is this dup?
Anyway, single pov mostly good character driven story when u want to focus on the main character only, but will really hard when it come to exploration and world building.
While multiple pov help world building, also help to explore each side character's thought, make it more real and alive

 

[AidenMarquis]

Third person omniscient. I love it when a story is cinematic and can seamlessly go from one POV to another. I find this to be particularly enjoyable in battles.