Ive kind of finished the first draft of my first novel. Its set in a fantasy world, although most things are realistic. Anyway, the plot follows 5 people that go different ways and change a lot, so each chapter is the POV of one of those people. As the situation in the country in question is quite complicated, it served the story quite well as each character would tell of the happenings in their part. But, reading through, I think that the characters are very in depth. They seem to have similar characteristics to the main character despite my efforts to stop that from happening. I'm not sure if I should change the entire novel, maybe delete the POV's and just be a narrator. Or write entirely from one POV, but I think the story would suffer if I chose this way. Any advice? Thanks very much.
Changing the POV is a major undertaking. Byt then again, if your five POVs are not sufficiently distinct from one another, your novel probably needs the overhaul. By a narrator, I assume you mean an omniscient perspective. I wouldn't make that choice, myself. I find omniscient narration very dull, most of the time. No matter how you look at it, it sounds like your novel is nowhere near finished after all. Before you dive back in, you should decide how you will structure your viewpoints. This may help: What's Your Point (of View)?
Kersme, A couple thoughts based upon your post: 1. There is such a thing as third person dramatic, which is basically an observer following characers around and telling what they do and say (as well as others around them) but really doesn't get any internal thoughts. Character expressions, words and actions reported allow the reader to interpret. This might be an option. 2. A writer early in his (or her) career often allows too much similarity bleed from one POV to another. One possible way to remedy this is to develop and ensure certain characteristics and mannerisms in the POV characters, especially through dialogue. Going through and addressing the concern you raised in this manner could aleviate the problem and avoid a complete POV revision. Good Luck. Terry
About omniscient perspective, I agree with Cogito. My novel is set around 4 characters. One of them is the main character. What I've done is just work it from one POV (my mc). I think that could work out better for you.
Thanks everybody for the replies. Cogito, that article was especially helpful! I think I will try and take TWErvin2's advice, although I think the main problem is my lack of experiance in life. I've yet to understand how different people look on the same things. But the more I think about it, I cannot restrict myself to one POV, too much is happening to people who are very located very far from each other, and the story would have gaps if I didn't follow those main characters. Thanks again everybody, this forum is brilliant!
