: Re: How important is it for multiple POVs to run chronologically? The way I am currently designing a story with three distinct POVs. An issue I am running into, however, is that one of these has

@Kaufman555

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Similar to Amadeus, I think the goal isn't to balance the protagonists' "on-screen" time but to take care of the dramatic pacing, character arcs, and somewhat less tangibly the lingering effect on the theme.

You might signal to the reader the 1st protagonist's arc is "on hold" where they are in a situation that is stable but unsatisfying. They compromise themselves, or must settle for something they don't deserve. Their story has a partial wrap up (not a cliff hanger) that feels like it could be their ending, like they have exhausted their options and the character bows out of the story defeated. This could be a personal emotional arc, something outside the main plot, maybe even something with emotional depth that would be boring to read, like caring for a elderly parent, or deciding to step back until the kids are older – even going away to learn a new skill set or following a desperate red herring or going to jail. The reader understands the character is stepping back. Even if it's for story/plot reasons, give them a character reason.

When they return, they have either renewed their drive, or have been beaten down, or maybe they had avoided the call to action to play it safe, but now the situation changes and they must re-commit to the fight. We should be glad to see them again, but we also might need to adjust to some new aspects of their character. They don't "just" vanish from the novel for a long stretch, when they do rejoin the story they have changed a bit from their experience – whatever it was.

Since the characters interact, I think it's slightly more important to tell a coherent chronology, Although you can still delay information and emotional reveals until they are appropriate. For instance the 1st protagonist may be framed, or have personal reasons for leaving that aren't revealed until much later after their return. A plot twist could recontextualize their earlier predicament.

I'd look for narrative ways to signal to the reader that character will be out of the game while they should focus on these other characters, rather than chopping up your chronology to fit an arbitrary quota of scenes-per-character. If it feels like it has a narrative reason (and a payoff) the readers should just take it as part of the story.

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