: Re: Should i have four points of view for my novel? I have four friends who all have roles to play in my novel. Person A is why things start to happen to the whole group. Person B has protected

@Rivera824

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This isn't a full answer, just some thoughts and ideas that may help you make a decision.

First of all, I often use different PoVs when writing. Do keep in mind that I prefer narrators that are limited to the knowledge (and only have mind access) to one single character. In that sense, adding chapters with different PoVs is useful because:

It allows the reader to learn things the character has no knowledge about
Better understand the personality and motivations of other characters

I typically have one or two main characters (A and B) and several secundary (C, D, E, F). Let's imagine one main character for an example. I can have chapters that go: A - A - C - A - D - A - A - D - A.

I particularly enjoy setting a secondary character as bitchy and then getting inside their mind and revealing their human motivation, thus making them less bitchy while cutting down on the righteousness of the main character. (Because, let's face it, we often see people around us almost as evil antagonists when in reality they believe they've got lots of good reasons to get on our case. And sometimes they actually do.) It's also a good way of explaining misunderstandings (A talks to B on the phone in one chapter, then in the next C is telling D about this conversation he overheard and what he concluded was happening).

It's also a great strategy to create tension if you have two or three characters running around eachother to achieve something (e.g. A is having second thoughts about going out with B, C is getting ready to break into A's house, B is eagerly getting ready for the date when A phones to call it off (cue reaction), C approaches the house, ...). Although in this case, short chapters or sections within a chapter work best.

Another thing I do is have lots of people be present for certain plot points so then I have to decide which character PoV would most benefit the reader. Sometimes I'll have an event start with a character's PoV then create a pause that allows me to skip to another character PoV. Each are experiencing the same event but can give wildly different interpretations (say: A is a romantic girl loving her sweet sixteen party and the attention her soon-to-be boyfriend (let's call him B) is lavishing on her; while C, apparently partying normally with his friends, is cynically seeing B making cold moves to seduce A. Later on we may even find out B is honestly fond of A.).

From your description, I get the impression A and B are the protagonists and C and D can make do with less time under the limelight. I wouldn't start off with four chapters, four PoVs. I'd try to have A - A - B or A - B - B. This would avoid the dizzying effect of getting inside a new character with every chapter. It also allows the reader to settle before jumping to other PoVs. That way you have the basic PoV you always come back to and the others that pop up are just 'voices on the side', if you will.

No matter what, do make sure their voices are clearly different.

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