Tuesday, March 20, 2012

What About a DUAL POV?

So what do you think about this: A dual Point-of-View.

I'm experimenting on my latest piece with twins, using a "their" POV. I'm not sure how it will work, but I'm hoping that if/when I separate them, and the POV becomes his and hers, it will have a lot more impact, both on the characters and on the reader.

It will involve head-skipping between them, and maybe some omniscient POV. In fact, when I read it now, it sounds very omniscient. I want them to be symbiotic, since this is why they are so special -- they are two halves of one whole.

So long as a scene is written in a clear way, head-skipping and omni can (and do) work, even in modern stories. It's a YA-slash-Adult fiction, so I don't think I'll be judged too harshly for head-skipping or going omni.

What is your take? Have you ever experimented with a POV like this?

- Eric

8 comments:

Phoenix said...

It worked fantastically in The Time Traveler's Wife, as you got to see both points of view about events that happened from both Claire (the wife) and Henry (the time traveler).

I say go for it!!! :)

S.A. Larsenッ said...

I use duel POVs in my YA novel by alternating chapters. My female MC does end up having more chapters from her POV, though.

Wine and Words said...

I've got no problem with it. I always like to wrap my head around things and the more POV's I am allowed, the curvy-er I get!

Christine Danek said...

I used duel POVs in my YA scifi. Male and female alternating chapters. I tend to like multiple POVs.

dolorah said...

I'm not sure you're talking the same thing as multiple POVs. I think I'd have to see a sample to know if it works or not. But head hopping can be a tricky business, and omni invites info dumps.

I think everything can be acceptable, if done well. You've set yourself quite a challenge Eric.

I struggle with multiples, I like 3rd limited. I'm attempting the multiple - only 2 perspectives though - with my cyborg fairytale. Its a stretch for me, which is probably why its only half finished :)

......dhole

Eric W. Trant said...

To clarify: All my longer pieces, and some of my shorter, have multiple POV. I usually alternate by chapter if it is a longer piece, and certainly I delineate voices by scene. I rarely write anything but 3rd limited.

In the current piece, I am going to try head-skipping within scenes, between the twins, and show things not from one individual perspective, but from ~their~ perspective. That's what I mean by Dual POV -- seeing through two simultaneous POVs.

- Eric

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Eric, dual third-person POV is all I've written. I like the intimacy of two people with the ability to show things from more than one point of view. I probably used a lot of omniscient in the beginning by accident but have since learned how to eliminate that.

Matthew MacNish said...

I read a book that was in first person for 75% of it, and then jumped into three separate POVs, two different firsts, and one third. It was weird, but it worked.