Note from KMW: I’m taking a short break this week to hang out with my brand-new niece! While I’m off getting cuddles, here’s a quick post you can read in just a couple of minutes. No podcast today, just a bite-sized look at an important storytelling choice.
One of the biggest questions novelists face is whether to use a single narrator or multiple narrators. Multiple POVs can broaden perspective and heighten tension, while a single POV offers intimacy and focus. Today, I’m breaking down the pros and cons of each approach and sharing my own surprising realization about the books I tend to love most.
And don’t forget! To help you dig even deeper into the building blocks of strong stories, you can now pre-order the e-book version of the revised and expanded second edition of the Structuring Your Novel Workbook on Amazon. (The paperback and a deluxe fillable PDF version will become available next week on the official launch day, October 6th—along with an epic giveaway. See you then!)
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A lively debate among writers and readers often centers on the number of narrators in a novel. Should a story be told through a single narrator’s voice or unfold through the perspectives of multiple narrators? A few years ago, I hosted a discussion on Facebook and Twitter/X where most authors favored two or more narrators. Yet several readers argued their favorite books were those written from the perspective of just one character.
Today, let’s take a quick look at this question: what are the advantages and disadvantages of single-narrator vs. multiple-narrator novels?
The Benefits of Multiple Narrators
At first glance, the benefits of multiple POV characters are obvious. Telling a story through several narrators allows us to give readers a broader perspective. Not only can we share first-hand accounts of different events, but we can also layer contrasting perspectives—such as when characters observe one another and offer commentary we wouldn’t get inside the head of any one character alone.
This approach can also increase tension and suspense, since readers often know more than the characters do. For example, one narrator may walk blindly into a trap that another narrator has already warned us about.
The Benefits of a Single Narrator
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The advantages of a single POV novel aren’t always as obvious, but they’re powerful. A one-narrator structure tightens the plot focus, prevents unnecessary rambling, and reduces extraneous subplots. More importantly, it provides space to deeply develop the protagonist’s character arc.
A single narrator also creates intimacy. Readers are invited to experience the story through one lens, fostering a strong bond with the main character. That said, the limitations are real: single POV books can feel narrow, and readers may become frustrated if they’re locked out of crucial events happening offstage.
Which POV Is Right for Your Novel?
Ultimately, neither approach is wrong. Writers must analyze the needs of their story structure to decide which technique best serves it. Before making a decision, reflect on your own reading experiences.
For example, although I’ve used multiple POVs in all my novels, I realized most of my favorite books rely on the precision and intimacy of a single narrator (which was one of the reasons I decided to go with a single POV in my most recent novel Wayfarer).
That insight may help you decide which POV strategy best supports your story’s goals.
In Summary
Your choice of POV, whether single or multiple, will completely change the way your story unfolds. By weighing the pros and cons of each narration style, you’ll be better equipped to craft a novel that delivers the exact reading experience you want.
Key Takeaways:
- Multiple narrators broaden perspective, layer tension, and offer contrasting viewpoints.
- Single narrators tighten focus, streamline the plot, and strengthen the protagonist’s development.
- The “right” choice depends on the story you’re telling and the experience you want your readers to have.
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My thing with multiple POV stories is that they seem too often used to try to disguise the fact that the stories being told aren’t able to carry the book by themselves are may not be being very well told. I’m not saying this is always the case. Of course, it’s not. But I’ve stopped reading some “big name” authors because of this gimmick.
Thanks for your insights. I’m experimenting with multiple POV in my next two-book series because the arc is one of a young couple growing from friends into lovers over a long period of time. There is life tension brought about by separation and tragedy and a sense of longing best expressed through the eyes of each character separately. It also involves the side characters integral to plot development. I think this could be a winner
Congrats on the new niece!
Congratulations on the new addition to your family.
I wrote my first book with four narrators and my second with just one. I found that I write better focusing on one.
I am working on a trilogy that started as one book told from one Omniscient POV. My Alpha reader said she thought there was more story there so over the course of a couple of years I’ve been elongated it into a trilogy, all Omni POV. However, I did some reading about multiple narrators and I am thoroughly enjoying the different lenses the characters (4 protagonists, 5 POV) give to learn about them and how the plot affects their character arcs. I do still use the Omniscient POV when the action requires rapid fire movement from one character to another, or if the flaws of the characters need to be illuminated by a greater eye. I’m loving every minute of getting to know my characters so much more deeply, and yet still being the guiding hand to bring it all together. Try it! You can always go back to what you know best!
Congrats on the new niece! I just recently became a grandmother for the first time (grandson).
I tend to write close 3rd, but fantasy–so there are multiple POVs. I think of them not always as full ‘this POV will be a character whose arc must be shown’ but also in a sense of the cinematic camera lens “this is the best way to show the story”.
I’ve written novels with both single narrators and multiple… which one I prefer varies from book to book, but generally I do prefer the flexibility of having multiple narrators.
When it comes to reading, I couldn’t care less 😂
In my current WIP (I’m in my third draft), I have been working with my MC’s single POV. A number of other characters, however, tell their related experiences to my MC. It has become a bit clumsy, so I am thinking of doing this: When a secondary character tells his or her story, I will introduce him/her with a paragraph or two opening the chapter, then (maybe with a line break) go into the story from that secondary character’s POV. I These may or may not be in third-person – I don’t know yet which would be the better presentation – maybe a mix.
Does the reader generally prefer one POV over the others? Do they have to like or understand every character?
When books have too many POV characters, I easily get lost. I often only like one or two of the POVs, and find myself slogging through all the others to get back to my favorites. It’s really hard to feel invested in povs when I don’t remember much about them and I haven’t read one of their chapters in a long time. And I find it easy to get POVs mixed up if there’s too many of them and they aren’t distinct enough. And if they all retell the same scene, I lose interest, preferring to just move on to new events. There are so many downsides to multiple POVs that I only trust a few authors to pull it off well: Brandon Sanderson and David Weber handle this best, in my experience. GRRM handled it well in early ASOIAF books, but let the sheer number of POVs get out of control in later books.
Your comments reflect my general experience: Few authors can write multiple POVs well. Otherwise, one often stumbles into stories with, say, two mediocre narrators, one good narrator, and one crappy narrator. Not a good mix.
So many other authors use multiple narrators as a kind of kitsch: They do it because they can, not because the format engenders a more compelling story.
In my WIP (women’s fiction) I have two different scenes in which my MC isn’t present, but both are integral to the story. They also give deep insight into the personal struggles of two other main characters, one being the love interest, and are turning points for both of those characters. (Love interest experiences the dark night of the soul.)
In both those scenes I plan to use Omniscient pov, since witnessing their words and actions explains the the change they experience.
Congratulations on a new niece! Hope you’re getting lots of baby snuggles. 🙂 I recently realized that most of my favorite books have omniscient narrators: ‘Water ship Down,’ ‘The Hobbit’ all the Redwall books, anything by Pratchett…. Oddly, I spent a number of years learning to write in first person. I don’t remember why I thought that was the way to go. I’d like to go back to omniscient, but it would involve a lot of relearning things I deliberately unlearned, which is sad.
Does a novel written in letters count as multiple viewpoint? The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Epistolary novels are multiple POV if you see the letters written by the other characters. Dracula is multi-POV because the letter & diary entries are written by all of the characters (well, except for Dracula himself).
But if I remember correctly, Daddy-Long-Legs is singular POV, they are all Jerusha Abbot’s letters to her mysterious benefactor she calls Daddy Long-Legs.
I haven’t read the Moonstone, so I can’t comment on it (I still have to finish reading The Woman in White).
Multi-POV epistolary novels are one of the few times you’ll see multiple first-person POVs. In “Spinning Silver”, Naomi Novik uses four first-person POVs, a rare usage for a non-epistolary book. The Joy-Luck Club (if I remember correctly) is another example.
I have enjoyed reading books with both single and multiple POVs but I do agree that multiple POV is much harder to master – it’s great when done well (I’m thinking of my favourite novel The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver) but when not written so well it can feel disorientating. Some of the worst books with multiple POV make you keep wondering whose head you are supposed to be in.
I write omniscient and use dialogue to get individual POVs. It works logically simply for me in “g_d mode”, as all bases are covered. I can describe the world. Characters, through dialogue, can discuss themselves and their actions, and give their view of others.
I never considered the use of numerous narrators, and now, as you mention them, it seems confusing and difficult to write.
I’m doing a series with dual narration in every book: One Human, the main protagonist, and then a different Non-Human in each of the other books. Of course they have arcs that collide at the climax of each book. Two voices is tough to keep track of, especially as the human matures and changes so quickly compared to the nearly immortal non-humans, but it’s plenty of fun to write. (The one exception is the Prequel which has one non-human voice. The protagonist hasn’t been born yet. I found myself wondering after 80,000 words or so whether the same voice, tags, etc. could be wearing thin. But I had to nail down backstory after Book 2, so a prequel was necessary.) This is a series where colliding values, understanding, perceptions of truth and reality, etc result in a lot of destructive conflict and action, and I cannot imagine tackling it in any other way.
As trite as it sounds, it is the story concept that drives those initial decisions about narrators and POV. Sometimes you don’t know until you start. When I started I had the protagonist and a bizarre supernatural mystery. When I introduced the second narrator a whole world came to life among the “others”. Now it is a key component of the whole series.
A good summary of points on the choices. I’ve always had a single POV in my books, except for the last one. There I decided that two would enhance the story!