Thoughts on alternating narrators in a single story?

[Raybies93]

Which is a narrow niche. Plus, audio books are going to lend themselves to a single narrator, so that's a skew in the data.

it is intensely awkward for the reader

 

[TheLobster]

Plus, audio books are going to lend themselves to a single narrator, so that's a skew in the data.

That's an interesting hypothesis. I wonder if we have any evidence for it.

My hunch would be that audiobooks are actually very conducive to having multiple narrators, even switching between on the fly. If every character has a unique voice — like, actual physical voice, not literary voice — then the listener can juggle multiple perspectives much easier than a reader would in case of a written book.

The barrier would be having to pay multiple voice actors, but by the same notion you can also pay each one less, since they are reading less, so...

 

[Doctor_Nobody]

I like the idea of alternating narrators. I did it once in a multi-chapter story on another site. I was just announcing that we were changing narrators. I don't know if it's allowed or not, but I'm all for it. It allows for a better exploration of the couple's psychology.

 

[old_prof]

Nearly every established author who writes in third person (a vast number of writers, probably the majority) changes the narrative to suit whichever protagonist they're narrating the action around.

I actually expect by book sold, 1P is the more common approach, if only because romance sells in such volume and is almost exclusively 1P present. Throw in current YA and I think you may have a majority of the market. Just not what many of you read. Even for best sellers, where romance is less prevalent (it sells volume by selling large numbers of schlock books), at least some, if not most, of the romantasy is 1P present. And we just discussed on another thread that Romantasy has taken over the best seller list.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Which is a narrow niche. Plus, audio books are going to lend themselves to a single narrator, so that's a skew in the data.

The vast majority of stories on Lit are nothing close to what would be published anywhere else, so I don't understand comparisons to that world. Stories here are usually about people or groups of people interacting in intimate ways and the back and forth switching between who is telling their version of what happened seems quite normal to me.

 

[Publius68]

I am just finishing up my latest series, Tiki Totem Hotel, where I experimented with using two narrators. It was harder than you would expect, and I only did it because the dynamics of the story required a lot of narrative events that were not known to one or the other Main Character.

I have had no complaints, and the series has been well-received. No comment has complained about it.

Finally, if someone gets snooty and disparages the very idea of multiple narrators, tell them to read As I Lay Dying. If William Faulkner wrote in multiple first person narrative, they can suck eggs.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Stories here have often been compared to diary entries, letters to the Editor, or people exchanging letters between them. Combining a few of those into a story would account for the changing perspectives.

 

[NaughteeDragon]

The novel I’m currently working on uses a rotating POV between 3 characters. I did this for a couple of reasons.
1. Each character is a little flawed and spending all of your time in a single POV would become irritating. If there was an MC, she is a bit narcissistic. Reading a story strictly from a narcissist’s POV makes them very unsympathetic.
2. Each one has their own story to tell of their building triad relationship.
3. Too much story would be lost if it was a single POV.

I am writing this in 3rd person, and the narrator is not omniscient, it only knows what the character knows, so has to make inferences about other character actions. Each chapter is 12-15k words, so each character gets enough screen time to matter.

 

[Writer61]

Which is a narrow niche. Plus, audio books are going to lend themselves to a single narrator, so that's a skew in the data.

Mystery/Thriller and SF are not "narrow niches", they are some of the most popular categories. IIRC, Crime (i.e. mystery) is the biggest seller in the UK.

I am not saying that you are wrong about multiple narrators being the most common, simply that it was absent in all of my recent reading/listening.

The idea that multi-narrator stories are not available in audio format does not hold up to scrutiny; pretty much any successful book is available in all three formats.

 

[Writer61]

it is intensely awkward for the reader

Not if you have a good one.

 

[YmaOHyd]

Having read through this thread again, and seeing the number of people who struggle with the notion of alternating points of view (reading stories written that way, let alone writing them) makes me wonder what these people are reading in the mainstream.

Novels which have space to develop multiple plotlines. I don't read many mainstream short stories, but offhand I can't think of one that had multiple narrators.

 

[Writer61]

That's an interesting hypothesis. I wonder if we have any evidence for it.

My hunch would be that audiobooks are actually very conducive to having multiple narrators, even switching between on the fly. If every character has a unique voice — like, actual physical voice, not literary voice — then the listener can juggle multiple perspectives much easier than a reader would in case of a written book.

The barrier would be having to pay multiple voice actors, but by the same notion you can also pay each one less, since they are reading less, so...

A single reader speaks most audiobooks. The best ones use different voices/accents for each character, which helps you understand who is speaking, which text cannot do, as @TheLobster speculates.

The worst readers speak every word in an expressionless monotone, and they usually get slammed for it in reviews, and rarely appear again.

Sometimes you get a special edition voiced by multiple actors, which are usually more expensive. They are often more akin to a radio play, with sound effects too. I have tried a couple of these, but I prefer a (good) single voice.

 

[SimonDoom]

Just had a quick look at the last 20 or so books (6 authors) I listened to (I use Audible a lot). Without listening to them again, I am pretty sure that all were 3P with a single narrator. Approx 2/3rds were crime/thriller, and the rest sci-fi.

I have not sought out single-narrator works; it has just happened that way.

Crime thrillers and mysteries tend to be third person limited or first person, because the reader experiences the story from the point of view of the detective and learns about the crime and its solution along with the detective/narrator.

Big, epic novels are more likely to be told in third person omniscient, because the author is trying to present a larger tapestry of life. A great example is McMurtry's Lonesome Dove, which conveys the story from multiple points of view.

The Game of Thrones books are a good example where the point of view alternates (in third person, not first) from one character to another on a chapter by chapter basis.

 

[SimonDoom]

Novels which have space to develop multiple plotlines. I don't read many mainstream short stories, but offhand I can't think of one that had multiple narrators.

Good point. Most short stories, of necessity, are told from more limited points of view. I had to rummage around my collection.

Asimov's classic sci fi short story Nightfall is told from the point of view of several different scientists. It makes sense for that story.

That's a great story, by the way, for anyone who likes sci fi but hasn't read it. I've got it in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, vol. 1.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I actually expect by book sold, 1P is the more common approach, if only because romance sells in such volume and is almost exclusively 1P present. Throw in current YA and I think you may have a majority of the market. Just not what many of you read. Even for best sellers, where romance is less prevalent (it sells volume by selling large numbers of schlock books), at least some, if not most, of the romantasy is 1P present. And we just discussed on another thread that Romantasy has taken over the best seller list.

Maybe I should clarify. In the marketplace over the last century. You know, literature. I'm not referring to the last five years. I'm beginning to understand why so many are struggling with the notion of alternating points of view...

 

[old_prof]

Maybe I should clarify. In the marketplace over the last century. You know, literature. I'm not referring to the last five years. I'm beginning to understand why so many are struggling with the notion of alternating points of view...

But shlock romances have been a significant part of sales for more than fifty years. A significant percentage of "classic" literature, 1P is very present. I think SF&F was the intruder, trying to force everyone into 3P. I think that's where most of the "Everything is in 3P" comes from.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The vast majority of stories on Lit are nothing close to what would be published anywhere else, so I don't understand comparisons to that world. Stories here are usually about people or groups of people interacting in intimate ways and the back and forth switching between who is telling their version of what happened seems quite normal to me.

Exactly. Perfectly normal.

But my comment wasn't about what people read on Lit. My comment was, what on earth are these people reading elsewhere, that the notion of alternating points of view is so hard to grasp?

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Exactly. Perfectly normal.

But my comment wasn't about what people read on Lit. My comment was, what on earth are these people reading elsewhere, that the notion of alternating points of view is so hard to grasp?

There are things to read outside this site???

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

There are things to read outside this site???

Hush Yo' MOUF!!!

 

[redgarters]

I've switched narrators twice, in My Only Wish (Cette Année) I alternated between the MC's to better show their emotions developing. It worked, but the atory has that plus mild time jumps and city switches, so it was a bit confusing for some readers.

In Wake Me Up Inside I switched pov's just for the epilogue, and that worked beautifully. One of my better ideas I think.

I now have a WIP where I have three narrators, but mostly a clean break between them. Curious to see how that goes down with the readers who liked the first chapter, that had just one pov.

 

[Areala-chan]

I've been toying with a story that would have two narrators, as it's something I've never tried to do before. Not sure how it will turn out, but I will definitely give it my best.

 

[Britva415]

One downfall of not liking it is that I'm not the best at it

I’m surprised you see it as a downfall. It seems to me it would only matter if, say, you were instructed to do an assignment in this way.

 

[PennameWombat]

I've posted a couple Sammi Elf stories so far, both told pretty much just from Sammi Elf's point of view, except for the epilogue at the end. I'm working on a third (Tommy becomes a dommy Krampus and Sammi Elf learns she likes that), but I'm drawn to writing it alternating between Sammi's point of view and Tommy's.

How do most folks here feel about that? About yep narrators for a single story submission? Many of the stories I've read here stick to one narrator, and if that's the convention I don't want to stray from it (especially if straying means I'll get voted lower), but I don't want to handicap the story for it, and most romance books I've read alternate between the two main characters' pov.

Close to half of my posted stories, so close to 25 or so, use alternating POVs in third person limited. I never alternate POVs in first person.

Most of the alternating POV stories are "longer," well, around 15,000 words and up to 70,000+. Most of these are highly rated, 4.5 and up.

I don't write Romance, I/T nor LW, so these are all E&V, SF&F, NonHuman, Group, and Novels & Novellas. Each switch is done at a section break. Certain stories (such as the Chronicle: Mel & Chris, ch. 01 series) use the section's POV narrator as the section title, these entries are all around 20,000 words. Others aren't so explicit, but open with the POV character making observations, or otherwise demonstrating a clear shift. I can't state that this adds or detracts from ratings, as no one's ever commented on this aspect.

 

[SkyBubble]

I've posted a couple Sammi Elf stories so far, both told pretty much just from Sammi Elf's point of view, except for the epilogue at the end. I'm working on a third (Tommy becomes a dommy Krampus and Sammi Elf learns she likes that), but I'm drawn to writing it alternating between Sammi's point of view and Tommy's.

How do most folks here feel about that? About yep narrators for a single story submission? Many of the stories I've read here stick to one narrator, and if that's the convention I don't want to stray from it (especially if straying means I'll get voted lower), but I don't want to handicap the story for it, and most romance books I've read alternate between the two main characters' pov.

I wouldn't do it, but it might work a little better in third person than in first person.

 

[Britva415]

Alternating 3rd had character headers at the switch, the story that alternates 1st and the story that alternates 1st and 3rd don't.

I can just picture one which alternates among different 1p POVs, with headers:

ME

Words words words words

###

ME

Words words words

###

ME

Words words words