When you decide to write a book, there are several decisions to make, including how many point of view characters to use. Many authors prefer to tell a story from one POV, but often writers like to show different characters’ perspectives. The question is then: how many POV characters should be in your book? Let’s go over three determining factors for choosing the amount of POVs, and then I’ll give you a list of questions to ask about your POV characters to make sure they are essential for your story.
3 Determining Factors
There is no hard and fast rule to how many POVs to use in a book. Many like to say no more than three, but that is just an easy answer publishers throw out because any more can be confusing if not done properly. Some people also say it depends on your genre. Epic fantasies are known for having anywhere from three to eight point of views, but then there are outliers like Brandon Sanderson who has more than fifteen in one book. Romance novels can be from one POV or two, if you want the love interest’s perspective. Thrillers often have a POV from the protagonist and the antagonist to create tension. But there is no rule that says your book will fail if you do the wrong number of POVs for your genre. They are just general guidelines. So, let’s look at three areas that will help you pick the right number of POVs for your book.
1. Be Realistic About Your Skill Level
The first and most important thing to examine before you pick your POV is your skill level as a writer. I’m not trying to be harsh, but writing more than one POV is for intermediate to advanced writers. You need to have a solid understanding of plot, voice, and character arcs before you try to write a story from more than one point of view. As a general rule, if you haven’t written (written, not published) more than three books, stick to one POV character. There is no guarantee you’ll have the skills to write multiple POVs after three novels, but you’ll hopefully have a good understanding of writing a solid story by then, if you have been working hard to learn and improve along the way.
Another truth about why I recommend beginning writers use only one POV is that trying to show everything from one perspective and make the world feel full it hard. It’s something you need to master to be a good writer. Sometimes people use more than one POV as a cop-out because telling the story from one viewpoint is difficult. Don’t use multiple POVs just for that reason. Conquer writing a book from a single point of view, then you can experiment with more.
2. Pick Your Protagonist’s POV
If you write more than one POV character, you need to pick which one is your protagonist. Regardless of how important each character is to the story, one needs to be the star. Who is the linchpin of the story? Who has the biggest character arc? Once you identify that person, you can start looking at the others to see who needs to stay and who should leave.
3. Determine The Scope Of Your Story
Lastly, you need to figure out the scope of your story. Does it occur across worlds or in one small town? Do you need people in multiple places at the climax to make everything work? The bigger the scope, the more POVs you may need to fully tell the story. If everything takes place in a small village though, having five point of views could be overkill. Just make sure you keep your list of POVs proportional to the story’s scope.
Should You Keep That POV Character?
Now that you’ve examined the three basic determining factors for selecting POV characters, let’s talk about evaluating you selections. Except for your protagonist, you need to ask the following five questions about each of your POV characters.
1. Does the POV have a character arc?
The most important question to ask is: does the POV character have a character arc? Think about the four plot pillars that are essential to any good story. Does the character have goals, stakes, plans, and an antagonistic force to push against? How does the character change from the start of the story to the end? If your character doesn’t have his own arc and change by the end, then he doesn’t need to be a POV character in the book.
2. Does the POV affect the main plot of the story?
Your POV character may have a character arc, but does he affect the main plot of the story? Is he on his own journey, or does what he accomplishes affect the story as a whole. The easiest way to determine this is to ask: does this character need to be present at the climax? If your character isn’t on stage for the climax or have actions that directly change the course of the story, then he doesn’t need to be a POV in your book.
3. How many scenes does the POV need to have?
Now it’s time to ask how many scenes will the POV character need? If your answer is one or two, then you probably don’t need the POV. You will most likely be able to show whatever happens through another POV or refer to it happening off page. If you have more than five scenes, the POV may be a keeper. Just make sure the character is important enough that the reader will want to spend several scenes in his perspective.
4. What’s the main purpose of the POV’s scenes?
Next, you need to look at the major purpose of the POV’s scenes. Are important events happening or are you just checking in with the character so the reader doesn’t forget about him? Is the POV mainly there to just show more of the world? Some epic fantasy books get away with this, but overall they don’t need to be there if they only exist for world building. Every scene must start with a goal and shift the plot in some way while making the POV character grow in his internal journey. If the scene doesn’t do that, you don’t need it. And if all the POV character’s scenes are like that, you don’t need his perspective.
5. Can the character’s perspective be shown through another’s viewpoint?
Lastly, you need to ask if the POV’s scenes can be told from an already existing POV. If you have two characters that are part of every scene, can you use only one of their perspectives? If you are trying to build tension, say between two love interests, you might want both POVs. However, most of the time, you can just use one. Also, make sure each POV has different goals. If two characters are trying to achieve the same thing for the same reason, you only need one as a POV. Just make sure each POV is unique and adds to the overall plot.
Final Thoughts
There is no easy answer to how many POV characters to put in your book. It all depends on the story and the best way to tell it. Try to evaluate each POV with the information I gave you, and then give it to your beta readers. Ask your readers if there was any POV that they felt bored with and wanted to skip as they read. If they say yes, the POV may not need to be there. Do your best, and the story will shine through whatever number of POVs you decide to use.
Thanks for reading!
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