Stephen King is the MASTER of character development. I have never read anyone who does this as well. In his book “11/22/63”, he did an amazing job with this, so much so that I felt like I was right there with the main character the whole time. And it was a long book, as most of King’s are. Another thing he does well is develop multiple characters with multiple POVs in his books. In Under the Dome and Needful Things (among others), he does a great job in switching the points of view from one character to the next, so that we get into the minds of all of them.
Okay, so here’s why I’m saying all that. My current WIP has a major backstory that needs to be told. Most of you know this because of other posts I’ve written. I’ve looked at several ways to tell the backstory, but there are two that I’m trying to decide between. 1) Doing a prologue about how the whole thing came about without telling the WHOLE story right away (because the reader doesn’t need to know EVERYTHING at first), or 2) writing the POVs of several of the characters to gradually tell the story. I’ve already done a scene where several of the townsfolk (the founders) get together and talk about a situation outside of the two main characters’ views. But there was no inner dialogue in this scene. Then, the other day, a scene from one of those character’s POV hit me and I had to write it. I haven’t yet inserted it into the manuscript, but I’m going to.
So here’s what I’m thinking. I MIGHT go ahead with a short prologue that gives a general gist of what happened ten years ago that got the ball rolling without giving too much away. Maybe use it as a teaser to the reader. Then, I can write scenes from the POVs of the characters involved, basically the antagonists, to slowly reveal the rest of the story. Stephen King writes multiple POVs seamlessly. But can I? I don’t know.
My questions to you. Have you ever written a book that had multiple POVs? If so, do you think it was effective? Were you happy with it? Did you find it difficult? Any advice?
My gut reaction on multiple POVs (aside from my gut reaction on a prologue backstory dump which was nooo!!!!) is that I think it’s accepted by readers now more than ever. Today’s readers were raised in the visual media culture, with TV and movie fictions that switch up perspectives all over the place. Yeah, books are different, and readers are looking for different things in a book, but still, I think they’re generally more accepting of different perspectives than they have been in the past. To bottom line it I’d say that you can get away with anything if you do it well. There will always be someone who picks at something in a review because it’s different. But many of the people who review and leave those kinds of critical statements are dedicated book bloggers and fellow writers who don’t always accurately represent the greatest number of readers. Do what your story needs, do it well. If you’re happy with the result, the readers who are really your readers will enjoy it as well.
Thanks for the advice, Susan. A lot of the books I read have a prologue that sets up the rest of the story. I don’t want to do an info dump, of course, but more of a tease. This would basically be a scene where the main antagonist has an interaction with the “force” that started everything. I could always let you read the prologue after I write it to see if it feels like an info dump or not. 😉 Yes, I’m terrified of the Pink Hammer, but I need to get a good opinion on that prologue. LOL
I think the main thing with the different POVs is to make sure it doesn’t feel like head hopping, so I would have to make sure each whole scene is just from each POV. And if it feels right, then I’ll do it. Gotta plot them all out! 🙂
Stephen King’s ability to create vibrant characters is amazing. He may not be the best when it comes to endings (The Stand and Under the Dome), but his characters are what reel me in. I tend to write stories told from a few POVs. I like the switch – it shows different perspectives.
A lot of people didn’t like the ending of Under the Dome, and I think that’s why King said they were going to end the TV show differently. I didn’t LIKE the ending of 11/22/63, but the ending was probably what it should have been. I just thought it was kind of sad. But there are other books that ended well. Many times, the monster is defeated and all is well…or at least better.
I think I’m really going with the multiple POVs. Most of it will be from the two main characters’ perspective, but I’m going to get into the heads of the antagonists if I can. I’ve already written that scene with one of them.
I haven’t read 11/22/63 yet, but I’ve heard great things about it.
You have to read it! This was one of those times where I was right there with the main character.
I think multiple POVs is an excellent way of unfolding a plot, esp when given at key points in the book. It gives the reader information the main characters don’t have, which adds to the suspense and tension. A teaser prologue can work great in conjunction with it. It’s all how you weave the whole thing together. 😀
I’ve added multiple POVs (and in romance no less), and it’s made the story much stronger. I definitely recommend it for your story. It sounds like it’s exactly what you need. 😀
I think it’s going to work if I do it right. And I kind of like the idea of getting into the head of the antagonists. The one whose scene I wrote last week is an antagonist who is having some guilt pangs over the whole thing. But I want to get into the head of the REALLY bad guy, too. The prologue I was considering would be from his POV, and would be a scene that started the whole thing. I’m also waffling between calling this book horror and calling it mystery or suspense. I’ll have to have the opinion of a few people on that, too, once it’s written.
I love your POV ideas! The prologue sounds like a great hook. I’d definitely put those in. 😀
It’s so hard to know what to classify some books. That’s a tough one. Stephen King is considered horror, right? I wonder if Dean Koontz is also horror is more thriller. I wonder what the distinction is between horror and thriller and mystery. That’d make an interesting blog post to write for SPAL. I’ll have to look into it. I’d love know what the distinctions are myself. I’ve been having trouble figuring out how to place Kent Ashton’s Backstory because it’s not a romance.
Dean Koontz is horror most of the time. But not everything he writes is horror. And not everything Stephen King write is horror, although most of it is.
The Gnome was easy to classify because of the evil lawn ornaments and the killings. It was almost a slasher book, really. But this one I’m working on has supernatural elements, and also murder, but the murders happened earlier. I don’t know if I’ll have a current murder in it or not, it depends how the story goes and what the antagonists do. I think horror is also determined by how graphic the murders are. However, there are a lot of detective/police/mystery books that have some graphic murders. I guess I’ll just wait and see after the book is done. Then I’l know how much “horror” is in it. It might just be determined by how hard it is for the readers to sleep after reading it. LOL
I love prologues (mostly because so many pundits hate them), but the main thing is, does it work? Does it tease me or draw me in? Or does it feel like an info dump? So as with anything when writing, if its written well then it works just peachy.
Me personally, when trying to decide whether or not to go this way or the other, I’ll usually try both, see which comes more naturally or just “feels” right. Of course in doing so, is why I’m still staightening things up in my current WIP.
Best of luck to you, and happy weekending.
I wrote the prologue at work today. I’m sending it to the “Pink Hammer” to look at. I honestly don’t think it’s an info dump, just a spooky occurrence that started the whole thing.