Split Narratives

[averygoodun42]

How do you feel about them? Do you find them distracting when the point of view shifts, even if the shifts are clearly defined?

With the first question, 1 is the least annoying, 10 is the most.

[Poll #1451506]

Comments

[keladry_lupin]

I'm very curious about the results, since I'm writing a fic where the POV shifts, but it's clearly defined. Each chapter starts with Hermione's point of view and ends with Severus's. The events described rarely overlap, though; it's like she puts down a video camera and he picks it up right then or soon after. I kept trying to keep it just to hers (since I've already done a long-ish fic from his POV alone), but I really wanted his take on things.

[mundungus42.livejournal.com]

I put the annoyance factor at 5, because half the time it's done so clearly that it doesn't even register as annoying, and the other half of the time, I'm like, "huh, WHUT?" I went to a panel on making the transition between fanwriter and pro, and one of the things to avoid is "head hopping," but she was sure to clarify "no head-hopping within a single scene." Break it up by chapters or with visual dividers, and I think you'll be just fine.

[scatteredlogic.livejournal.com]

I've written long fics from different POVs, but only when the POV shifts were carefully noted. (I kept the same POV throughout each chapter, but the chapters had different POVs, depending on which worked better for the story.)

Like Libby, I selected 5 for "How annoying do you find split narratives?" simply because I don't mind it when it's clear whose POV I'm reading, but head-hopping within one scene is very annoying.

[vanityfair00.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's because I read a lot of bad crime novels where they do it alot but POV shifts don't bother me. HOWEVER, they do have to be with some notice. Just changing point of view in the middle of a paragraph and then shifting back is really annoying. There are very few people who can get do omnipotent 3rd person well.

[firefly124.livejournal.com]

I only mind POV shifts when they seem random and without warning. Some stories work better from a single POV, others work better split, imo. But sloppy "whose head am I in for this sentence" writing has me hitting the back button.

Well, unless it's done purposefully and well. When there's a reason for the personalities and perceptions to be muddy. But that's damned rare.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

I generally don't like 'he said/she said' in which it switches predictably or repeats a lot of stuff you know already. I LOVE puzzles that give a lot of information from different points of view. (I just finished Byatt's Possession, after all, which is an excellent example of bricolage in the contemporary novel.)

After all, only one POV would be a first person limited novel.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

I once wrote an untagged multi-POV story to see if it could be done. It could, but my workshop agreed that the results were a little 'insane.'

[junewilliams7.livejournal.com]

I'm not found of rapid POV shifts. I've seen stories where the POV shifts every few paragraphs, and it's especially annoying if the shift is only signaled by a change in pronoun. If there are several candidates for "he" or "she" then I have to read the passage twice to figure out whose head I'm supposed to be in.

There are always exceptions, of course, but once I'm inside a character's POV, I usually prefer to stay there for at least a dozen paragraphs before the next change.

[kribu.livejournal.com]

I don't mind the least bit if it's clear whose POV we're in. Visual dividers between scenes are a great help.

Not making it clear or switching within a paragraph... no, definitely no. But I can't see anyone with even the tiniest bit of writing skill doing that, really.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

Good writing trumps all. Split narrative can be great when done well, or very, very, very, horrendously bad.