QUESTION - I'm right in the middle of writing and I'm annoyed at something. The story I'm working on at the moment is written from the POV of my male MC and female MC. It alternates between their stories and for major events involving both of them, it's told from both perspectives. But here's where I'm struggling: Should I write the story as I want it to flow (switching between them constantly) or should I write their stories seperately and merge them later? I'm just finding that switching between the two is messing with my focus...I end up having to go back and re-read the last thing I wrote about them to get back into their groove. Suggestions?
Go with whatever you feel more comfortable doing. If you find yourself struggling with one thing, chances are the quality of writing is going to suffer if you keep trying to force it.
I think if I was reading it going back and forth it would get confusing. Maybe not if one chapter was devoted to one person, the next chapter to another. Like Dan Brown does, he'll have one story going on in one chapter in one country, and the next chapter, something else going on in a different country and eventually merges them together.
A lot of writers do that. It's a very common approach. I agree that constantly switching within one chapter would probably be a bit much. I don't think I'd like it.
I assume you're POV is third person limited? If you really want to switch back and forth between their versions without it feeling awkward, consider switching to third person omniscient. You'll probably trade a little intimacy with both characters, but you'll greatly shorten your story while handling the "two viewpoint" problem in the most natural way possible. I recommend at least writing a version of one scene from third person omniscient and seeing how it feels. The choice is yours from there.
Switching between POVs is best done on chapter boundaries, or at least on scene boundaries. Be aware of your POV transitions, and make sure they are well managed. That mjeans transitions that aren't too abrupt, but that make it clear that the viewpoint has changed. It takes practice.
I can understand switching between two POVs could put the writer off. Unfortunately, I don't have any suggestions for that. I don't think it'll distract the reader, though. Like architectus said, so long as there's a rhythm, readers will get used to it. Heaps of novels are written in this style.
