: Re: How can I Switch Protagonists Between Books? Disclaimer: I am not intending on doing this. It is just a question I thought was fascinating and might be useful to other writers. Here's the scenario.

@Sherry594

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To make it work you should distinguish between:

what the story is about (mostly constant, can evolve, but only gradually),
the most relevant person or group (change is plot-driven),
point of view and narrator (unless plot/genere forbids it, you can change any time you want).

To give some examples:

If the story is about how X and Y meet, then you can, in the middle of the book jump to the other character (e.g. The Master and Margarita).
You can also keep the focus of the book constant, but switch points of view even every chapter, if you can make sure the reader knows what happens.
If the book is about some group, then you can focus on a different members (and the group could change over time too).
If the book is about a specific role, then you can change the protagonist every time somebody new takes that role.
Sometimes you can use lead-in character (that is, an extended introduction, but a whole book seems to be way too long for this).

To give an example of evolution:

You start with some character X and the book is about X.
After a few more books you realize that X is not awesome enough by himself or herself, so you make X a leader of some group.
Then some other member Y takes over (esp. if Y was nurtured to be the next leader) and the book is now about the person who leads that group, whoever that is.
The cycle repeats, but now you focus on how the group maintains its identity despite change of leadership. The book is about the group and its dynamics.
Then you introduce more groups and describe their iteractions (e.g., the respective leaders might unite against one common foe) and consequences, similarities and differences, how they mix with outside world. The book is about the community/society in which those groups exist.
And so on...
...all the way to philosophy ;-)

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