Have you ever read a book (ahem, Martin...) where there were simply too many point of view characters? How do we as writers know where to draw the line? When does the number of POV characters go from interesting, to excessive? _________________ Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected] ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction
I've glanced at books that seem to have so many POVs and barely distinguishable characters that I was often unsure of continuity...
I've run into examples of sloppy editing where the POV-break was unclear.
Then there's eg Turtledove, who solves both problems by telling you about the many characters' attributes again and again and again...
These are, of course, at the opposite end of spectrum to authors who push a couple of life-sized, generic cardboard cut-outs about, and try to shame you into being delighted by their originality , vivacity and ability to monologue...
FWIW, I opened a recent Stephen King and discovered he'd dispensed with *naming* characters. It was written like an early draft of a stage-play, before personae were fleshed out: The Boy, The Young Man, The Busy Mum... Bleah !!
I vastly prefer reading a book with just one POV character. I can tolerate up to three POVs but after that it seems that they start to blur together. That's one of the reason I dropped Martin.
I also have a huge dislike of romance-type POV switches where the switch is made in the middle of a discussion or arbitrarily back and forth so show how the characters feel about each other.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Alternative Reality Web Zine: ISSN# 1559-3037
All materials on these pages (including fiction, poetry, essays, articles, interviews and opinion pieces) are copyrighted to the original authors and may not be reproduced without permission.
