Have you ever written the same story twice, from two different POVs?

[iwannadobadthingswithyou]

And I do mean the same story. The same encounter, the same sex act. Once from the perspective of one of the characters, the second time from the perspective of the other character.

If you did, can you send me links? I'm very interested to read them and I don't know how I would search for them.

Thanks,
A.

 

[StillStunned]

Not exactly, but I have a series called My Little Sister Sal, which is told from the brother's POV. Except I also added a WIWAW, where Sal gets to share her version of the events. It's much shorter, of course, not a blow-by-blow account, just Sal's perspective on the events of the various stories.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

No, but I've thought about it several times.

 

[Erozetta]

Yes, but I'm not happy with how it turned out. I want to redo it.

I think I wrote it about 10 years ago with a friend. His pov/her pov of the same weekend experience. We worked together on both POVs.

 

[AlinaX]

Here's one time I did it:
https://www.literotica.com/s/doll-5
https://www.literotica.com/s/doll-mother

 

[StillStunned]

Yes, but I'm not happy with how it turned out. I want to redo it.

I think I wrote it about 10 years ago with a friend. His pov/her pov of the same weekend experience. We worked together on both POVs.

I posited the idea here a couple of years ago of two separate writers each telling the same story from a different POV. I also said that I wouldn't do it myself, because it feels a bit too close to roleplay.

 

[THBGato]

@WhiteTailDarkTip did this with their stories Black and White.

I've done it partially.

The end of Love is a place part 1 (Samantha's pov) is repeated at the very start of Love is a place part 2 from Sarah's pov. Also, a key reunion scene in Thirty is observed from a different character's perspective in Forty. Likewise, the aftermath of certain events in Twenty are seen from a different pov in Forty.

I think it can be quite fun, especially if it is used to reveal a twist (which is what I tried to do in Love is a place.) Several commenters also said that they enjoyed the "aha!" moments that they got when reading Forty, having previously read Twenty and Thirty.

 

[Erozetta]

I posited the idea here a couple of years ago of two separate writers each telling the same story from a different POV. I also said that I wouldn't do it myself, because it feels a bit too close to roleplay.

I can guarantee it's not. Our collaboration was much more "No, that's stupid, we aren't writing it that way and if you try to, I'll change it on final edit without telling you." Than "Yes, I bet a nice dick like yours would be fun to tease, we should definitely lean into that, for the story, obviously."

Of course, I feel like I should add that he and I have known each other since we were 14, so we were friends for a long time and quite comfortable ragging on each other.

 

[Omenainen]

I’ve done exactly this, as my second story on the site. The stories:

Groupie (her)
Groupie (him)

IMO a good thought experiment to do on any story is to think how you’d write it from the other POV. If it stops making sense, your other “main” character isn’t a character at all but a genital accessory.

 

[iwannadobadthingswithyou]

think how you’d write it from the other POV

The current story I'm working on is written from the perspective of one character. It's a first date of sorts and she's constantly thinking what the other person is thinking about. And me, as the writer, I'm wondering about the same thing along with my narrator. So I thought that when I'm done, I should try to re-write the story from the other character's perspective, to see what signals were understood and which were missed by both parties. Of course, they'll end up in the same place, but I bet the path they take to get there will be different.

 

[LittleGreene]

I haven’t but someone suggested I did with one of my stories. I actually wrote it from the male perspective (I’m female), and someone thought it would be good to get it from the woman’s side as she wasn’t the instigator in the scenario.

 

[alohadave]

If you did, can you send me links? I'm very interested to read them and I don't know how I would search for them.

My first two stories. About a Parent-Teacher meeting, told from both sides. They are the same basic story with some differences.

https://www.literotica.com/s/parent-teacher-teachers-lesson

https://www.literotica.com/s/disciplining-the-parent-ch-01

 

[iwatchus]

I did this for a single scene. In my original series. a side character recounts her phone call with her mom, where she admitted she was lesbian. Mom admitted she was too. The same phone call became the opening scene in another story centered around the mom. It was probably <1K in a 20K story. But it was fun to do. I could see doing it for a full story if it would work.

 

[Lifestyle66]

And I do mean the same story. The same encounter, the same sex act. Once from the perspective of one of the characters, the second time from the perspective of the other character.

If you did, can you send me links? I'm very interested to read them and I don't know how I would search for them.

Thanks,
A.

Yes.

I have the same story written from THREE different POVs, each one providing different backgrounds to show their first-person thoughts and motivations.

In "Unique Rewards of Yoga", the guy's wife goes to a late evening yoga class, while he goes to bed early for his early golf time-time the next morning. In the morning, he finds out how much fun she had.

In "Unique Rewards of Yoga - Her Story" is the same incident told from the wife's POV, but starts a few months earlier to show her motives.

In "Unique Rewards of Yoga - Beginnings" I tell the story of the yoga studio instructor getting started, and her trials of getting her struggling business going and why she set up that evening class.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

There was a whole series recently, I/T as I recall, maybe E/V. Two stories each day in "New", one by one character, the next by the other. After about the third day, it got a bit annoying for some reason. I haven't read any of them to be able to say if it was effective or not.

 

[yowser]

Like @THBGato I have done this partially. In my Infernal Folio trilogy the first story is from the POV of a female paleographer dealing with a puzzling medieval manuscript. The second one overlaps, telling several scenes from the male's POV. Then the third, and concluding tale reverts back. An interesting exercise. So some overlap, but not the entire business.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Yes, but I do that whenever I need to during the writing or editing process if I'm having doubts. For instance, thinking that something is amiss, or if I there are goblins working on the background and I have no idea what are they doing, or if that's something that'll bring up a consequence... These POV changes never end up in the final product. It's like I'm directing a play: you don't need to know what happens behind the stage.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I haven’t but someone suggested I did with one of my stories. I actually wrote it from the male perspective (I’m female), and someone thought it would be good to get it from the woman’s side as she wasn’t the instigator in the scenario.

I've done chapters in different series that cover the female and male perspective on the same events.

https://classic.literotica.com/s/college-hooking-memories-ch-04

The subsections in there Queen Nora and Nora's Taunts are described as Paul saw them in https://classic.literotica.com/s/the-unexpected-girlfriend-ch-01, specifically the early paragraphs in that chapter. There are other overlaps in chapters about their affair.

 

[FrancesScott]

And I do mean the same story. The same encounter, the same sex act. Once from the perspective of one of the characters, the second time from the perspective of the other character.

Yes and no. I’ve had the same scene appear in two stories, related from the perspective of two different narrators. But it was just one - non-sexual - scene, not a whole story. And it wasn’t on my account here, so no links I’m afraid.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

My story "Promises Made and Promises Kept" was written in two POVs alternating each POV In a separate part. Note that the parts are staggered so each part introduces new story that is then told by the other POV in the next part .

 

[SkyBubble]

I haven't. It sounds like an interesting exercise.

 

[FrancesScott]

My story "Promises Made and Promises Kept" was written in two POVs alternating each POV In a separate part. Note that the parts are staggered so each part introduces new story that is then told by the other POV in the next part .

In Gravid Games, each section (a few paragraphs) switches narrator between the FMC and MMC, sometimes with a little overlap to illustrate their different perspectives on the same events. As things heat up, the length of the sections shortens and so you get more of a dizzying sensation of them getting caught up in the moment.

 

[WhiteTailDarkTip]

@WhiteTailDarkTip did this with their stories Black and White.

It's a lot harder than it looks! I had a strong story to begin with and getting the other POV to be strong enough to stand on its own was quite challenging. I'm still not entirely happy with the result

 

[jpro56]

I published one on Lit last year called "Both Sides of the Story" giving the man and woman's point of view into their relatinship. It was fun to write except for the need to refer back to the already written stuff to make sure it meshed together well.
https://www.literotica.com/s/both-sides-of-the-story

 

[filthytrancendence]

I smell another chance to attempt to evangelize for perspective-locked 3rd person.

In The Expanse, especially the later books, Daniel and Ty often use this very cool technique of telling the story of a battle or somesuch from one character's PoV up till some dramatic break point, where the chapter cuts to a different PoV, usually closer to the ground or sometimes the opposite, where the same event is told from a literal different vantage point and also through the eyes of a different character. It's a really specific kind of foreshadowing, I suppose, but it also has the effect of characterizing the various PoV characters, because you get to see how different people react to the same thing. I'm know they didn't pioneer this, but they've done it the best of the things I've read, and it serves their story extremely well.

I think the first example is the sequence of securing Thoth station in Leviathan Wakes, where we see the Roci through Holden's PoV battle the 2 escort destroyers and disable the station's defenses, and then we see the station being boarded and secured through Miller's. The best is actually the climax of the entire series, so you know they knew they had something good there, too.

Anyway, in my WIP, I'm switching between 3 PoV characters. My story doesn't have space battles and shit, but the plot does revolve around some moments that end up being life-altering for all 3 of them. So the first one, we see the actual events through the eyes of character 1, then we see the effect it had on character 2 through the eyes of character 3, then we see the aftermath on character 1 through her own eyes, and so on. So it's not about telling the story twice (or thrice) but more about telling a more complete story by integrating several perspectives on the same event. And the ways the characters end up reacting to this event ends up creating mirrored experiences when end up drawing them together, which was the entire point.

It also also lets me moderate the strength of characterization strategically, which is the tightrope to walk when balancing 3 MCs with very different personalities. Character 2 risks overpowering character 3 by force of charisma/personality, and so I can put my thumb on the scale of characterization by filtering more of the important moments through character 3's eyes, and then I can use character 2 to more straighforwardly drive the plot forward.

Sorry that was a ramble. Not sure if that's helpful to anyone, but hopefully. Anyway it was fun to reflect on the question from a slightly different... perspective.