Today we’re talking with a few 2021 debut authors about writing in multiple points of view. As writers we know it’s hard to get the character arc and voice down for one character, but two, three, four? Let’s see how these authors tackle this writing style.

TWP: Why did you decide to write in more than one POV?

One of the central questions my book tackles is, “What happens if I risk letting people see a side of me I usually keep hidden?” Coming at that question through two main characters, who each wrestle with it in different ways as they have to decide if they want to be real with each other, made for a richer story than telling it from only one perspective. Chad Lucas, THANKS A LOT, UNIVERSE

This was my first attempt at writing a multiple POV book, but it really felt like the story called for it. Two cousins with very different upbringings, each with a unique perspective on the feud that has separated their family for so long. I also wanted to add in letters from their deceased grandfather to give his perspective as well. It’s a family drama, so it only felt natural that each person be able to share in the storytelling. I also loved the challenge of writing in three different voices and felt that doing so added a certain depth to the overall story and created three very different main characters with whom readers can empathize. Casie Bazay, NOT OUR SUMMER

The entire premise of my book involves having multiple POVs, so this was never a question for me. I wanted to write a comedy about a bunch of failed attempts at having sex (and in order to do that, you need a bunch of characters trying to have sex). Obviously, THE NIGHT WHEN NO ONE HAD SEX developed more emotional depth and thematic resonance along the way, but the multiple POVs never changed. Kalena Miller, THE NIGHT WHEN NO ONE HAD SEX

TWP: In what ways did having multiple POVs add tension to your story?

I’m a huge fan of pining in romance, so I loved describing Evie’s first relationship through the eyes of her smitten best friend. It added tension to ordinary moments, like a quick kiss with her boyfriend in the hallway. I also loved playing up that tension by having Evie notice her best friend’s odd reactions but not be able to make sense of them, while the reader is fully in the know. Amy Noelle Parks, THE QUANTUM WEIRDNESS OF THE ALMOST-KISS

The novel centers on three characters and their different internal conflicts and singular external conflict. It’s like a braid how each POV twists and pushes up against the other. The reader is hopefully wondering if or when they will meet up and what will happen when they do. There are so many “what-if’s” and twists and turns, so the limitations of three narrators really adds tension. Olivia Chadha, RISE OF THE RED HAND 

Rea is a twelve year old girl who is starting to come of age and navigate the world around her. And she is flawed! With the dual POVs, the reader will be able to see parallels in Rea’s personality as well as the villain’s, Queen Razya. Apart from the dual POVs adding elements of foreshadowing and at certain times giving the reader more information than what Rea knows, therefore upping the tension, the reader can also see how Rea battles with her darker side hoping not to give into it and become like the evil Queen. Payal Doshi, REA AND THE BLOOD OF THE NECTAR

TWP: What were some of the challenges of writing in multiple POVs?

The biggest challenge was making sure the two main characters each had a distinct voice and personality. But that was the fun part too: telling a story through the eyes of two characters who are opposite in many ways, and who sometimes have totally different perspectives of what’s happening in the same moment. Chad Lucas, THANKS A LOT, UNIVERSE 

The biggest challenge to writing in multiple POV’s for me is keeping track of who knows what and when they know it, and then making sure the reader doesn’t get a double dose of the same information. Sometimes that might mean seeing the same situation play out through two different lenses, other times it requires finding clever ways to avoid repeating and info dumping. Alysa Wishingrad, THE VERDIGRIS PAWN

Writing in multiple POVs was a challenge for sure. Since I’m a “pantser” and my characters tend to evolve each time I revise, it took multiple revisions to find each character’s true voice and make them distinct. It’s not only their dialogue, but the way they narrate the story (since it’s first person POV) that needs to be identifiable to them, specifically. Having been a teen girl myself once upon a time, I think writing the girls’ POV was easier for me than writing their grandfather’s, but I found a blog written by an older gentleman, and it gave me some ideas to further pin down Grandpa Eli’s voice. Casie Bazay, NOT OUR SUMMER

TWP: What strategies did you use to keep the voices of your characters distinct?

I did different things stylistically with my two MCs to help set them apart. Brian is anxious and introverted, and he sometimes has internal “Brian versus Brian” arguments or organizes his thoughts in lists (like “Embarrassing Memories for Permanent Storage and Frequent Recall”). Ezra is much more outgoing so his chapters are more dialogue-heavy and sometimes include text conversations with his friends. Chad Lucas, THANKS A LOT, UNIVERSE

One of the reasons I wanted to do dual POV was because my original main character, Evie, is not great with reading other people’s emotions, so it was hard to tell a story only from her perspective, but this ended up being helpful in creating distinct voices. Evie’s narration focuses much more on her analytic thinking and gives an almost journalistic description of the world. Caleb’s chapters are much more saturated in feelings. I also leaned into their unique interests to give them different metaphors for understanding the world–mathematics and physics for Evie and coding and baseball for Caleb. Amy Noelle Parks, THE QUANTUM WEIRDNESS OF THE ALMOST-KISS

The MCs are so very different as people that I just did my best to notice what they would in that moment and see through their eyes. Ashiva is all action, smash, curt and tons of futuristic slang. Taru is emotive and kind and insightful. Riz-Ali is super educated and affluent. Together a reader will get a good sense of the vast differences in this world. Olivia Chadha, RISE OF THE RED HAND

TWP: Did you use first or third person narration? Why?

I used third person close for both Beau and Cressi’s POV’s. I’m most comfortable with third, and like how it allows me to zoom my lens in and out, giving me the opportunity to be both close to my POV character and retain a tiny bit of distance when it’s useful. Alysa Wishingrad, THE VERDIGRIS PAWN

I used first person, present tense, which is how I’ve written all of my books so far. It’s what comes most naturally to me, maybe because I tend to read a lot of YA written in this same style of narration. I love how I can really dig into a character’s inner thoughts and emotions with first person POV, and I also like the urgency and the feel of being “in the story” that seems to come with present tense. Casie Bazay, NOT OUR SUMMER

I usually write in first person but especially when writing multiple POVs. In THE NIGHT WHEN NO ONE HAD SEX, I have four different POV characters, and I honestly don’t think I could have done it in third person. I love that first person allows me to get right inside a character’s head. Then, in addition to creating distinct voices, I can really work on crafting unique thought processes and emotional depths. Also, my characters tend to be slightly self-involved, and I think I would hate writing their names that many times. Kalena Miller, THE NIGHT WHEN NO ONE HAD SEX

I used close third-person POV throughout the novel. From a craft perspective, at the time I started writing, I hadn’t read many multi-POV first-person narratives that worked well (although I’ve since read several!), and I thought third-person would make it easier to keep their voices distinct. Additionally, there is a subplot in this book that is essentially my love letter to fandom, and since in some ways the “past” chapters of the novel read as one-shots, writing in third-person also allowed me to honor the fic tradition. Miel Moreland, IT GOES LIKE THIS

TWP: How did you decide when to switch between POVs?

When the POV characters are separated, I tend to stay in one character’s POV long enough for readers to care about their situation and become invested in what happens next before switching. When they’re together, I focus on who has the most at stake (and/or who’s making the decisions) in a given scene. And when a twist happens, there should be a switch in just the right spot so both characters can react without backtracking or slowing the story. It’s a balancing act, but it pays off so well! Claire Winn, CITY OF SHATTERED LIGHT

My general rule is that the POV goes to the character in the scene who has the most to lose or the most at stake. However, there were one or two instances where I gave Asta the POV instead of Erlend because I felt it was important for Asta to comment on the fact that, as a cis guy, Erlend has privilege in certain situations that people of other genders do not have. Carly Heath, THE RECKLESS KIND

Alternating chapters! I’m a purist at heart and enjoy the neatness of back-and-forth chapter changes. My editor Mekisha Telfer helped me make sure that I chose the right POV for each scene. She had me rewrite a couple of chapters where the impact was bigger for the other protagonist — and that meant, of course, that I had to adjust the surrounding chapters, too. That principle, of always telling the story from the character who’s impacted the most (as Carly and Claire say above), is key! Carolyn Tara O’Neil, DAUGHTERS OF A DEAD EMPIRE

Before working on each scene, I tried to think about who was having the bigger ‘realization.’ Who was taking a step on their internal journey? Sometimes it was informed by the location: certain places that Hannah and Leo go in the empty Houston trigger conversations or memories that naturally mean more to one person than the other. The museum with the Degas exhibit was more relevant to ballerina Hannah’s POV, because she had some baggage to confront and deal with regarding dance. The empty festival stage was a juicier psychological field trip for rock musician Leo. Brianna Bourne, YOU AND ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD

TWP: How did you think about plotting for a multiple POV book?

I started off knowing each character’s arc and their big character-defining moments. Those, at least, would have to be in their respective POVs. Then, once I knew the major plot points, I was able to “pants” my way through each character’s perspective. I didn’t plan the story on a per-chapter basis, but the POVs ended up pretty even. Claire Winn, CITY OF SHATTERED LIGHT

Not gonna lie, plotting was a challenge and I had to rewrite the book a few dozen times to figure out how to make the narrative arc work with dual narrators. My first pass (my “trash draft”) was mostly Asta’s POV and I probably only had one Erlend chapter. Weaving in the Erlend chapters meant understanding that he had the same goal as Asta, but while her actions are more physical in nature (learning blacksmithing and horse training), Erlend’s are more nurturing and emotional in nature as he’s figuring out how to create harmony within their new family. Carly Heath, THE RECKLESS KIND

I wrote one plot synopsis for the whole novel, then at each pinch point I knew when the characters would cross or do something to interfere with the other. It sort of just made sense. I didn’t map each character separately, though their emotional journeys are unique. The overall story is singular and each character is necessary to the puzzle. Olivia Chadha, RISE OF THE RED HAND 

At the plotting stage, instead of trying to treat it as one story, I separated it into two wholly individual character arcs. I knew where each of my two characters needed to start, and where they needed to end. Then I thought about what external events could cause each character to either progress towards her/his end goal identity, or take a step back. Once I had those two separate paths built, I wove them together. Easier said than done! Brianna Bourne, YOU AND ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD

TWP: How do you think multiple POVs worked for your genre?

In romance, I love the way dual POV lets readers into the heads of both people falling in love. I especially love it when you’re in the head of one person and you as the reader know something the character doesn’t–like how the love interest feels about them–so you can interpret a look or a glance that the character misses. Amy Noelle Parks, THE QUANTUM WEIRDNESS OF THE ALMOST-KISS

Multi-POVs are great for historical fiction, because there are SO many stories to be told! Anna’s and Evgenia’s perspectives allowed me to explore the two extremes of class during the Russian Revolution, one of the most dramatic episodes of class warfare ever. This helped me portray a more robust picture of what the civil war was actually like. It’s a great way to play with and explore the time period. Carolyn Tara O’Neil, DAUGHTERS OF A DEAD EMPIRE

I think the fantasy genre lends itself very well to dual POV so I believe it did work for the book as well. It helped me talk about the political and social conflicts in the fantastical land which I would not have been able to do solely with Rea’s POV. Since fantasy books can have ‘evil’ characters, the dual POV helped me show the reader the person (albeit flawed) behind the villain, what transpired in her life to have led her to become who she is today and also to show that adults have weaknesses and insecurities too. Payal Doshi, REA AND THE BLOOD OF THE NECTAR

I think dual POV is perfect for any YA that features a strong romantic element—just look at Jennifer Niven’s All the Bright Places, Marie Lu’s Legend series, and Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver. And how thirsty were fans to know exactly what Edward was thinking in Twilight? Dual POV takes the heady, intoxicating feeling of being in love for the first time and doubles it! Brianna Bourne, YOU AND ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD

Thank you amazing authors for sharing your secrets to writing novels with multiple points of view. I know we are excited to read these books when they come out in 2021.

You can find the authors here: The21ders. Don’t forget to pre-order their books and mark them to read on the Goodreads links below.

Chad Lucas, THANKS A LOT, UNIVERSE

Brianna Bourne, YOU AND ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD

Payal Doshi, REA AND THE BLOOD OF THE NECTAR

Carolyn Tara O’Neil, DAUGHTERS OF A DEAD EMPIRE

Amy Noelle Parks, THE QUANTUM WEIRDNESS OF THE ALMOST-KISS

Olivia Chadha, RISE OF THE RED HAND

Carly Heath, THE RECKLESS KIND

Claire Winn, CITY OF SHATTERED LIGHT

Miel Moreland, IT GOES LIKE THIS

Kalena Miller, THE NIGHT WHEN NO ONE HAD SEX

Casie Bazay, NOT OUR SUMMER

Alysa Wishingrad, THE VERDIGRIS PAWN