Help!!!

[mrwizard67]

I am working on a story that has several characters. It will be done in the third person. I don't want to tell the story from the perspective of a single individual, but rather from the view point of each person at different time.

My question is this.

Do I need to have diffeerent chapters ofr each character, or can I switch view points simply by changing paragraphs?

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

mrwizard

 

[flawed_ethics]

Huh

I thought about that briefly too. I was going to submit a story thats already part-way through that would be the same story, but through each of the characters experiences. So in my case, the solution was two different stories.

In your case, it may be better to split the sequence up into several chapters per individual, since the range of thoughts and perspectives (POV, etc...) is best not shared in reading with other members. Plus, it allows to keep certian aspects hidden until the last chapter, should you desire to write as such.

Of course, dicontinuity will arise. You're presuming the reader will want to read the same story several times. If you make things interesting enough, that another character's perspective would liven the story further, then it would work well.

Just my opinion though!

 

[LadyTabitha]

If you are careful to specify, you could do it by changing paragraphs....but it might come out too choppy and whatnot. I agree with the replier before me. Two stories or seperate chapters might be the best route, to keep things flowing smooth and keep things properly seperated, IMHO.

 

[Mickie]

Switching chapters isn't necessary. However, it needs more than another paragraph in order to point out a switch in pov. Start a new scene with each change in pov to give the reader a pause between, and use the new pov character's name in the first line to let the reader know WHO they're reading about.

Scene changes are denoted by an extra line between them. I usually use three asterisks to emphasize that this is a different scene due to the formatting here at Lit.

Mickie

 

[Weird Harold]

I am working on a story that has several characters. It will be done in the third person. I don't want to tell the story from the perspective of a single individual, but rather from the view point of each person at different time.

Normally, in a story from the omniscient viewpoint (which is what you're describing here,) the story is told mainly from the perspective of one or two main characters with only short excursions to the viewpoint of othe characters.

As Mickie points out, an obvious change of scene marked with an extra blank line or three asterisks on a line by themselves is the normal method of shifting perspective.

However, consider the following:

---
Ajax grabbed Cassandra's arm and pulled her close. "I don't care how big he he is. I don't want to share you with him," he growled.

"Are you afraid you won't measure up to him?" she purred, kissing his nose.

"He could be twice my size or a pencil-dick and it wouldn't make any difference to me. Your mine and I don't share my property." Ajax grabbed her ass, digging painfull fingers into her cheeks to emphasize his point.

In the hallway, Hiram watched carefully through the partially open door. Although he couldn't hear their words, their body language boded well for his fantasy of a threesome with Cassandra.
---

The last paragraph is a simple transition of viewpoint. How long you stay with Hiram's viewpoint from that point would depend on your plot. It could be as short as just that one paragraph, or you could follow him away down the hall as he goes to make preparations for a threesome that's not going to happen.

I tend to think of this sort of situation in terms of camera angles and stage directions to keep the narrator straight on what can be seen and heard at any given time.

When the time frames overlap -- if for instance you jumped back in time to show Hiram sneaking up to the door and describing the same action in a way that would give him a wrong impression of what was being said and done, then you would need a more obvious marker of the scene and viewpoint change.

 

[mrwizard67]

Thank you all for your help. You gave me several good way to make this idea work. Now all I have to do is write the story.
Thanks again