Hello y'all. Okay, so I'm running into a little issue with my story in the writing/development phase. I was planning on having three PoVs, but I'm having a terrible time writing the third one. I think the issue is that she is not main character material. The only reason I wanted her to have a point of view was to introduce important characters earlier in the story than they otherwise would be. While her arc would have some conflict, and important events do occur within it, it still seems like it's not enough to justify having the book that much longer. Especially since some of the important details can be rearranged to fit into one of the PoVs I'd still have. And the rest could be mentioned in them. And I know this is a decision I have to make myself but I'm curious how other people feel about PoVs. Is it worth keeping around a weaker PoV just to give extra screen-time to important characters? Is it okay to drop a PoV if it means significant character development happens off-screen for these important supporting characters? When would it be the right choice, in your opinion, to drop a PoV?
I feel like the asnwer to these questions is really going to be a matter of opinion and taste, which is good because that often means there is no right or wrong answer. - In my opinion - never. It's never good to have anything "weak" cluttering your book. Whatever way you've devised this, there is always another option. You could try adding more to this character to make her main character material. I was once told, if you have a character that couldn't be the main, let them go. The advice was, every character should be capable of becoming your focus character. In other words, if you chose to change leads you should be able to. I noticed she did this in her own work (the lady who told me this) and none of her characters were weak. Her main character was a knight, but it could have easily been the slave that looked after this knight, the man at the docks that helped people escape the tyrannical Kingdom. Even the Knight's Mother who we rarely saw had enough to develop her into a main character. I'm not sure how I feel about having anything in a novel just to serve the plot or other characters. It works as long as it's not obvious. I tend to dislike that character who dies early on just to spark the protagonist into a rebellion or into action. That was (and it's often the protag's mother) the character's soul purpose? To just die and fire up the story. There's nothing wrong with it but they're flat characters that I don't care about. Is it okay to drop a PoV if it means significant character development happens off-screen for these important supporting characters? Yes and no. Depends on how important. If they are just supporting characters, then it's not a vital. Lastly you could just continue the way you are. Make a list of your concerns regarding this character and each chapter. Tidy your work up and then request a full manuscript read from some people. They'll either say cut it out or we'll help you improve it because this character is actually vital to the story. That's what I would do. I've been in a similar situation and was told not to cut. And these kind readers worked with me and each other to improve that weak spot. It's very hard to iron out issues when you don't have them laid out in front of you.
What Cosmic said. I have -4- main character PoV's in the novel I'm writing, to make sure I get all the angles in that I need so they cover all of the story which takes place on two planets, the outer solar system and on different continents. Before I even started writing, I made sure that each one was -integral- to the story, had a story arc that had a theme strongly aligned with my book's overall themes, and that the events that take place can't happen without them. You do -not- want the Raiders of the Lost Ark syndrome. (If you've never watched The Big Bang Theory - Amy Fahrer-Fowler destroys Raiders of the Lost Ark by pointing out that, even without Indiana Jones, the Germans would still find the Ark of the Covenant, take it to the island, and all die a hideous death) That is undoubtedly a great movie, it's one of my favourites -and the reason it works is because it is a movie, and you route for Indi all the way through without realizing the flaw. To try and think you can get away with doing the same thing in a book will be nothing but hubris, and will make your reader skip parts of your book if they realize the character is a cardboard cutout, only there for other reasons. If you -need- the character for logistical reasons, then take a step back. Ask yourself what the themes of the novel are. Can you create a character that then has a story arc that can impact the story to progress some of it along and THEN do the things you need them to do, not the other way around. By doing this, you can always go down the "Game of Thrones" route, and kill them off when they've served their purpose and have it as a bit of a shock. Sometimes I think George RR Martin didn't kill people off for shocks, but to stop his head exploding from giving them all meaningful parts to play.
While this is nice advice in making sure that every character feels deep, I do disagree with it in practice. A PoV is one because the story couldn't work without them being a PoV. For instance if Harry Potter was written from Ron, Hermoine, or Draco's PoV it might still be an interesting story but it wouldn't be the same story. Which brings me to the problem I have. This PoV, as I currently have it envisioned, doesn't seem to fit thematically with the story I'm trying to tell. It exists solely to show off some important events and characters, and I'm worried that it kills the pacing in the process. It would be nice if my story would stick to the themes I want it to have, but it seems like every time I sit down to write it wants to drift in a different direction. That's what the editing phase is for I guess. You do make an interesting point though. I do have a character that actually fits my themes fairly well that could effectively replace this PoV (it's her intended love interest). I might have to consider writing these scenes from his perspective instead, since he is a more interesting/dynamic character. I'll have to brainstorm along those lines, but that could be an interesting way to take it. Thank you both for the advice.
Well no, it wouldn't be the exact same story but that wasn't really the point. The point was each character should have the substance for it. Not saying it's something that should be done, just that does does enhance a story. If the character doesn't fit then ax them. See if you can give their job to another character that does fit.
You also could avoid the whole "give this guy a really cool plot line and then nothing else happens with him," I STILL REMEMBER COLD HANDS and LADY STONEHEART, SIR. In the opposite vein of what everyone's said here, you could potentially just use the character as a sort of narrator. Pop them up every now and then. It gives them a small purpose, while not being overly ... overbearing. The only thing then would be making sure they aren't used as plot drivers... Is that what a narrator is? I've confused myself. Does this help? I hope so.
Well I'm not sure that helps too much for my current conundrum, but it could be useful to keep in mind should I run into similar problems in future stories. It also could end up helping someone else out and part of the reason I made this topic was to help out others who might run into a dilemma similar to mine. So thank you for the advice.
