Multiple POVs—should you use them or should you not?
That’s a question with huge implications for your story. It will influence everything from structure to pacing to character arcs. Most importantly, it will have a huge influence on your readers’ experience of the story—for better or worse.
More genre books than not use multiple POVs to present multiple protagonists—or sometimes just to give readers a glimpse at what’s happening behind the protagonist’s back. There can be many drawbacks to multiple POVs, not least that readers may significantly enjoy certain POVs more than others, which can in turn contribute to a poorly-paced plot in which comparatively little happens.
Although I am personally a huge fan of single-POV stories, today I want to talk about something I love about multiple POVs, and that’s what I call the Vicarious Love Factor. Sounds complicated (and maybe a little kinky), doesn’t it? But it’s not!
What Is the “Vicarious Love Factor” Offered by Multiple POVs?
The Vicarious Love Factor is the phenomenon in which readers’ feelings about one character are shaped by other characters’ perspectives.
One of the inherent limitations of a single-POV story is that readers experience the protagonist almost exclusively from the inside out. They know what the character thinks, but they don’t often get to see that character the way everyone else does.
After all, most characters aren’t especially objective about themselves.
For example, a protagonist may genuinely believe he or she is ordinary, incompetent, or even unlikable. Another character, however, may recognize courage beneath that same person’s self-doubt, kindness beneath the reserve, or integrity beneath the flaws. That outside perspective can reveal dimensions that the protagonist’s solo POV can’t convey as easily.
Thanks to a glimpse through the objective eyes of another character, readers are able to better understand the protagonist. When a protagonist is loved by another character (whether or not that love is deserved), readers are also given a major subconscious incentive to love that character too.
And, of course, the reverse is also true. If another character distrusts, fears, envies, or even hates the protagonist, those emotions become part of the lens through which readers interpret the story.
This isn’t just because multiple POVs give readers more information about a character. They create emotional investment by inviting readers to participate in the relationships between characters. When readers witness one character’s love, loyalty, admiration, or heartbreak for another, they share in those emotions.
For example, if one character grieves, readers are more likely to grieve. If one character desperately wants another to succeed, readers often find themselves wanting the same thing. In many ways, the emotional connections between characters become the emotional connections between readers and the characters as well.
How Multiple POVs Deepen Reader Empathy
Readers naturally understand characters through relationships.
Think about the people in your own life. Rarely do you form an opinion of someone in complete isolation. You also notice how others respond to them:
- Are they respected?
- Are they dismissed?
- Do people trust them with their secrets?
- Do people turn to them when life falls apart?
One of the most useful things about multiple POVs is that they allow readers to experience a protagonist from both the inside and the outside.
Internally, readers witness the protagonist’s doubts, fears, rationalizations, and private struggles.
Externally, they see aspects the protagonist may not have the self-awareness to recognize (e.g., courage, kindness, leadership).
Or, vice versa, readers may witness the character’s unwitting hypocrisy. Either way, readers may come away with a richer understanding than either viewpoint could have offered alone.
Writing Your Story’s Theme (Amazon affiliate link)
More importantly, every relationship says something about both characters. When one POV character admires another, readers also learn something about the admirer. The emotional currents flowing between characters deepen characterization on both sides, often reinforcing the story’s theme without ever calling attention to it.
Should You Add Another POV?
This effect can, of course, be achieved without multiple POVs, and sometimes the pitfalls of multiple POVs won’t balance out their advantages.
Structuring Your Novel: Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition (Amazon affiliate link)
Before deciding to include a new POV, always consider its overall effect on the story’s cohesion and resonance, not least in the plot structure. Every POV should earn its place by deepening conflict, revealing new dimensions of character, advancing the plot, or illuminating the theme in ways no other perspective can.
If the POV’s only purpose is to provide commentary on the protagonist or to reveal plot events that otherwise would happen offstage, the effect can often feel empty. But when another viewpoint genuinely deepens or advances the story, that character’s perspective of other characters will influence your readers’ feelings about all of them.
Note: This article has been revised and expanded from an earlier version.
Want More?
Outlining Your Novel (Amazon affiliate link)
If you’re deciding whether your story really needs multiple POVs, that choice is often easiest to make before you begin drafting. In Outlining Your Novel (and its companion workbook), I help writers think through big-picture questions like POV, character relationships, and story structure while it’s still easy to experiment. A little planning up front can save countless revisions later!
Available in paperback, e-book, and audio.
Learn About the Different Types of POV (+Head-Hopping)
Does Your Story Really Need That Extra POV Character?
5 Questions About How to Balance Multiple POVs in Your Story
Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 64: POV Problems
About K.M. Weiland | @KMWeiland
Much appreciated article! I, for one, have instinctively been drawn to writing multiple POV, and enjoy it immensely. Now I know why!
Oh, yes!! My response to this post is exactly that: I’ve been doing it, really love MPOV but never had an analysis of why it works for me. I have story arcs that could work well with 3rd person, but I love 1st person immediacy for the deep internal work my characters do. The reader gets to see the protagonist thru other eyes through conversation in any POV, but letting other characters explain themselves directly is even more powerful.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, Katie!! So many times, I learn something completely new, and other times I now understand WHY I was doing what just ‘seemed right.’
Yes, I always like digging under the surface and trying to understand *why* certain thing work. Multiple POVs can be complicated and can take away from the story’s cohesion and resonance if not executed thoughtfully. But when well done, they can also add a lot of layered nuance and context.
Indeed, we do find out a lot more about a character through other characters who interact with/know them. Thank you for making us think a little deeper about the subject! I’m new here, so I wanted to ask you, do you have an article comparing, say, omniscient narrator view to other POVs? It would be most useful to me, since I’m working on my first novel but I’m not exactly sure yet what approach to pick. Thank you again for all that you do for the literary world!
Glad you enjoyed it! You can find all of my posts about POV here: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/category/point-of-view/
I specifically talk about the various perspectives in these posts:
First-person: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/?s=first-person
Third-person: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/third-person-pov/
Omniscient: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/omniscient-pov/
And in this video going over all the options: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/learn-about-the-different-types-of-pov-head-hopping/
I also recommend the books Characters, Emotions, and Viewpoints by Nancy Kress and Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card.
Excellent post and great point. I do have multiple POVs in my current project, and I’m going back to add some emotions.
Happy editing! 🙂
Nice article. I was using multiple POV’s without realizing it. Once I noticed, I leaned into it, embracing it as the best style for this book.if my natural style. I studied the topic, then wrote more deliberately. The biggest problem i found with multiple POV’s was head-hopping. I did a dedicated review of the entire manuscript, hunting down head-hopping infractions ( there were a few.) That took a minute, but was well worth it. My next book will likely be single POV. It seems to me more aligned with the type of story.
Yes, the pitfall of multiple POVs is that they can feel uncontrolled, both because of head-hopping and because of random or inconsistent pacing due to how the POVs are woven into the narrative. More isn’t always more when it comes to multiple POVs, but thoughtfully done, they can add a lot.
The only issue I have with multiple POV is making clear whose view it is when the viewer changes. This is difficult enough in a novel, let alone a short story. Less, by Andrew Sean Greer, is one example of multiple points of view that sometimes pull you (or, at least, me) out of the novel.
Multiple POVs are an important skillset, but they definitely have to be used carefully. Misused POVs are one of the easiest ways to pull apart a narrative. I seriously dislike random POVs or any sense that POVs are being used for the author’s convenience, rather than as part of a larger, purposeful pattern in the narrative.
Yes
Yes, I use multiple POVs. Currently–my antagonist, Carl, is a vicious killer and falls in love with a prostitute, Carmen. I give Carmen her own voice in her interactions with him. I feel this gives him a different layer and one that affects our judgement of him.
This is a perfect example–as I’m sure Carmen’s POV adds nuanced layers to Carl’s characterization that might not otherwise be accessible to readers.
A lot of my story ideas have at least two viewpoint characters. I thought it was a design flaw, like having two “protagonists” (where one is actually a side character) or letting a side character steal the protagonist’s importance. Maybe the story actually needed the viewpoints.
It really depends on the story. Some genres, like romance, all but require dual main POVs. In other stories, the secondary POV can sometimes detract if it is not structurally integral to the plot. POVs are tricky. You have to dial in on how they’re shaping the story and what works best in any particular instance.
I was reminded of ‘Law and Order’ on TV where typically the first half followed the police and second half the prosecutors. When they created ‘Criminal Intent’ a few years later they instead chose to go back and forth between the police and the suspects to show the POV of each.
I don’t care for 1st person POV shifts, as it’s switching between narrators, and sometimes even of supposedly different characters the narration has too much of the same voice. 3rd person works better for me as there can be one narrator who follows different characters – as long is it’s clear which character ‘he’ or ‘she’ refers to. Even ‘Ordinary People’ was often difficult to follow because of this.
I chose 1st person while aware of the pitfalls. I then decided my narrator would be unreliable. I let him accurately report actions and reactions of others (that he was aware of) even if he didn’t totally understand what was happening, and let subtext carry weight. Same with describing himself – so that the reader will sometimes understand what is happening before the POV character does.
I do love single-POV narratives. They require a lot of control–but so do multiple-POV narratives. I think multiple-POV narratives can get away from you easier; it’s easier to think you’ve got it handled while really it’s making a sloppy mess. But truly any POV choice requires awareness, and they all come with their specific challenges.
Would you say there are specific genres that don’t work well with multiple POV’s than others? Or is it more of the author’s skill?
I think it’s much more about the needs of the story than the genre itself. Some genres, such as epic fantasy, naturally lend themselves to multiple POVs because of their broad scope and large casts. Similarly, dual POVs are by far the most popular approach in romance. But other genres, like mysteries or literary fiction, sometimes benefit from a more limited perspective to preserve suspense or intimacy. That said, any genre can work with multiple POVs (or single POVs) if they’re used intentionally. The key is making sure each POV contributes something essential that shapes the narrative in a thematically pertinent way.
I’ve found that with my process, I have maybe 45k words for each POV character. I don’t know why, that’s just where I’ve landed every single time I try to write single-POVs. So, lately, I’ve ended up writing two POVs and weaving them together as mentioned in the article above, and next thing I know I have a full-sized novel.