POV question male or female lead

[AWhoopsieDaisy]

Im stuck on who's perspective to stick with In my 3rd person limited narration.

The male character would make an easier audience surrogate as he's definitely the more average of the two leads. He's far more likely to notice and point out things that most people would consider weird.

But the female lead is autistic and her narration as I was doing a bit of a test to feel her out is way funnier than his. She's not terribly self aware and she takes the longest to fall for him.

I worry if I use him for narration she'll come off like a manic pixie dream girl. But if I use her for narration she's not going to point out certain oddities or really draw attention to the guy at all.

Who do I choose?

 

[Altissimus]

There can be only one answer: it's your story.

Sorry.

 

[AWhoopsieDaisy]

There can be only one answer: it's your story.

Sorry.

Lemme rephrase: Mechanically which sounds better to read?

 

[SimonDoom]

Whose story is it? Usually I like to pick the character who is the focus of the story. Who changes the most in the story? Who confronts the greater challenge?

 

[DeLaFaye]

I'd rather read her POV since she takes longer to fall for him.

 

[Altissimus]

Lemme rephrase: Mechanically which sounds better to read?

'Mechanically', it depends entirely on how you write it.

At the end of the day, it's 'just' a POV - doesn't mean the other character isn't there. It's how you present them from the POV you choose, right?

From what you've said, either can work, though personally I'd prefer the girl. However, there's no getting away from it: it's your story.

 

[alohadave]

You can switch POV and tell from both perspectives.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

I'd look at it as choosing between two distributions of goodness: the male POV will deliver more reliably but the female POV has the potential to be more interesting.

I would encourage you to try the female POV, but that's a matter of incentives. As a reader, I'm willing to click through a bunch of garbage in search of the occasional gem. As an author, you might be much less sanguine about a story of yours flopping.

A few other options:

1. Alternate, so you get the best of both worlds and some irony due to the contrast between their perspectives.

2. Have the female POV tell the story in retrospect, so she can say stuff like, "Later he told me X. I had no idea."

3. Have the female POV notice people reacting to the things she's missed. (I realize this can be a challenge for an autistic character, since part of autism is not noticing these reactions. But my understanding is that sometimes autistic people do notice the reaction even if they don't understand its cause.)

It's 50k so don't feel obliged to read it all, but here's a story that I think does a good job of alternating perspectives and using retrospective narration: https://www.literotica.com/s/wolf-in-sheep-s-clothing

 

[MillieDynamite]

If you write first person, you can switch point of view, with a tag of some kind, and they tell the story alternating between events, perhaps over lapping on some of the scenes to get a second point of view of the same action.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Walk away, take care of something, and have someone else say the same thing. Of course, I don't know that until I hit send since I said it before my son had his issue!

 

[Britva415]

Which story do you want to tell? These wouldn't be the same story at all.

 

[Seadog777]

Lot of good answers for you here.

The real truth is that....it's your damn story. Write it any damn way that you want.

That said, do not discount the good advice that others here wrote.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

You can switch POV and tell from both perspectives.

Read my mind.

NOW GET OUT OF THERE!!!

 

[Seadog777]

Read my mind.

NOW GET OUT OF THERE!!!

Might get trapped in that crazy ass maze

 

[MillieDynamite]

Read my mind.

NOW GET OUT OF THERE!!!

How shall he ever find his way out of the maze of your thoughts?

 

[djrip]

If you write first person, you can switch point of view, with a tag of some kind, and they tell the story alternating between events, perhaps over lapping on some of the scenes to get a second point of view of the same action.

Or same thing if you write third person.

Another vote from me for switching. No I mean switching between pov's.

 

[MillieDynamite]

But I love epistolary writing. Love reading it, and I love writing with it (though I don't do it much). You can get a fuller view of the story than even in 3rd person because it is written from other people's points of view of the same events. But that's just my opinion. Then again, it's a pretty good opinion, isn't it?

Or same thing if you write third person.

Another vote from me for switching. No I mean switching between pov's.

 

[djrip]

But I love epistolary writing. Love reading it, and I love writing with it (though I don't do it much). You can get a fuller view of the story than even in 3rd person because it is written from other people's points of view of the same events. But that's just my opinion. Then again, it's a pretty good opinion, isn't it?

Great point! You can switch and observe an event from multiple povs in 1st or 3rd but 1st lets you bring different voices to bear on it. Different opinions and assumptions from the different characters. They can all be unreliable in different ways and the reader can piece together what the real story is.

 

[Bramblethorn]

My bias is that I want to see more autistic POV stories, so...

That lack of awareness can be challenging, but it's a fun challenge. There's a storyline in Red Scarf where one of the characters is coming on to the narrator for several chapters before she finally gets the message. I used dialogue to show that flirting in a way readers could pick up on, while keeping the narrator's voice oblivious, and I think I had some readers yelling SHE'S TRYING TO PICK YOU UP before we finally got there.

 

[alohadave]

Read my mind.

NOW GET OUT OF THERE!!!

NEVER!

 

[SimonDoom]

It's an interesting choice but there's no right answer. You have to think hard about what sort of story you most want to tell, and the choice of POV will follow from that.

Sometimes it works to tell the story from the point of view of someone with a limited or unusual point of view. Consider Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye. He has mental health problems, but you can't imagine the story told from someone else's point of view.

On the other hand, consider the Sherlock Holmes stories. Holmes obviously is the far more interesting character, but the stories are told from Watson's POV. That's essential, because part of the pleasure of the stories is being baffled by how Holmes figures things out, and also seeing him as a weird, singular person from a normal person's perspective. If Holmes told the stories he'd reveal everything as the story went, spoiling the fun. The key is to figure out what's the fun.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I'd say there are only answers that are right for an individual. Holmes tales are told in first person from Watson's point of view to emphasize how Holmes is so extraordinary. After all, John Watson is a doctor, so he's no slouch in the intelligence department.

It's an interesting choice but there's no right answer. You have to think hard about what sort of story you most want to tell, and the choice of POV will follow from that.

Sometimes it works to tell the story from the point of view of someone with a limited or unusual point of view. Consider Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye. He has mental health problems, but you can't imagine the story told from someone else's point of view.

On the other hand, consider the Sherlock Holmes stories. Holmes obviously is the far more interesting character, but the stories are told from Watson's POV. That's essential, because part of the pleasure of the stories is being baffled by how Holmes figures things out, and also seeing him as a weird, singular person from a normal person's perspective. If Holmes told the stories he'd reveal everything as the story went, spoiling the fun. The key is to figure out what's the fun.

 

[Cagivagurl]

Im stuck on who's perspective to stick with In my 3rd person limited narration.

The male character would make an easier audience surrogate as he's definitely the more average of the two leads. He's far more likely to notice and point out things that most people would consider weird.

But the female lead is autistic and her narration as I was doing a bit of a test to feel her out is way funnier than his. She's not terribly self aware and she takes the longest to fall for him.

I worry if I use him for narration she'll come off like a manic pixie dream girl. But if I use her for narration she's not going to point out certain oddities or really draw attention to the guy at all.

Who do I choose?

Give the narrator a neutral voice. Speak for both MC's. 3rd person gives you that option... Jack said.... Jill replied... Jill said, Jack rplied.
The narrator can be omnipresent....
Cagivagurl

 

[Bramblethorn]

On the other hand, consider the Sherlock Holmes stories. Holmes obviously is the far more interesting character, but the stories are told from Watson's POV. That's essential, because part of the pleasure of the stories is being baffled by how Holmes figures things out, and also seeing him as a weird, singular person from a normal person's perspective.

Also, Watson's voice gives opportunities to humanise a character who might come across as cold-blooded if left to represent himself. Holmes isn't really the sort to harp on his own good points, and it's easy for them to get lost behind his cleverness, but Watson can single out the moments where Holmes shows himself to be a loyal friend with a strong sense of right and wrong who cares about their clients. IIRC one of the stories mentions Holmes complaining about Watson including that human aspect in the stories, but it's important to their charm.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Give the narrator a neutral voice. Speak for both MC's. 3rd person gives you that option... Jack said.... Jill replied... Jill said, Jack rplied.
The narrator can be omnipresent....
Cagivagurl

I agree. Getting both POVs makes the story feel well-rounded. What each, said, heard, felt, thought.