I'm just wondering if it's harder to write a story with multiple MCs (showing each of their POV's at a different time in the story) or to just stick with one, just wanting to know your opinions, thankyou!
I wouldn't find it any harder than writing a story with numerous points of view, whether the characters be the MC or secondary characters (and I almost always use numerous POVs). A POV is a POV. The only difference is that if it's more than one MC, you have to spend more time on that particular POV than you would on a secondary character. And you'd probably have to give the different MCs about an equal amount of time each, or else they won't come across as MCs. So, if you find it easy to pull off various POVs within a story, it wouldn't be that hard. If you find it easier to focus/spend time on just one character, though, I'd recommend that.
The thing with writing different POVs is that you have to be very, very accurate or the story won't work. Accuracy is most important when describing feelings, emotions..etc. Personally, I think writing both ways work well it jsut depends on which way you find easier to do.
I write a serial and a novel right now and both of them feature several main characters, each with their own point of view. Now I wouldn't know if I successfully pull it off but I don't find it much harder to write. On the contrary, having multiple main characters gives me more to write about. I'd be very bored if all I had was one character to work with and my stories would likely be choppy and dull as well. My type of stories are those that explore human emotions and relationships, so with just one(or even just two) people, my story would lose a lot of steam. Now, that doesn't mean that I'm going to stuff 200 main characters into the story at one time, but I definitely have no issues with multiple mains.
When a novel is like a soap opera, I am not to fond of it. An example of such a novel that I did enjoy was Swan's Song. Dune on the other hand used many POV but it was not like a soap opera. If done well have more than one POV works great.
In my fantasy novel I have one main character and many sub characters and it is told in first person. Ameasha
I'm currently writing a story with two main characters from the third person. Is it weird to have both of their thoughts going on almost simultaneously without dividing it up as "MC1" and "MC2" ? I'm just curious because whenever they are together, I have occasion to switch from one POV from the other as it is happening, rather giving the event in one character, and then going back over it again with the other.
I have 4 MCs on my current work and I use 4 POVs, plus 3rd person, depending on the situation. If it's a personal event happening to one of them (IE, Phillip finds his younger sister dead one morning) then I seem to favor first person. But I actually find it a bit easier, but then again, all 4 of my MCs know each other...I think that's a big factor, too.
I recently finished a story that started out with three MCs who didn't know one another. Later on, I started adding POVs from multiple side characters, especially towards the end. I wrote in third person, but only described the thoughts of really one character at a time, although I occasionally allowed two characters to have POVs in one scene. For me, it's actually harder to write only one POV. All my characters have something to say, and they yell at me when I don't let them.
I find that the multiple POV approach can come off as gimmicky but, as others have said, if it's done well it can very effective. I would recommend doing both and seeing which way drives the story for you as a writer before thinking about how you're going to present it to the reader. If you find that the multiple POV's are making the story more difficult to tell, stick with one. If you find that sticking with one limits the story you want to tell, use multiple POV's. The point is, it's different for everyone, so I don't think someone can really tell you conclusively which is harder for anyone but themselves.
