3 Reasons to Use Multiple Perspectives in Your Story
Most stories are told from a single perspective—whether that’s an omniscient point of view or a close third-person point of view that is tuned into your protagonist’s thoughts. But sometimes your story feels so expansive that it’s necessary to tell it from more than one character’s point of view. The technique of writing in multiple perspectives can also create twists and dramatic irony. Here are a few reasons you may want to write from multiple perspectives:
To create complexity: Giving secondary characters opposing points of view allows you to explore your subjects, settings, and moral gray areas from a wider variety of perspectives, which sustains complexity and keeps the reader interested. Changing point of view can help your reader get to know different characters’ voices and backstories and is especially useful in stories with intersecting storylines. Just remember that all that complexity will add pages to your narrative—so it’s probably not the best choice for a short story.
To develop suspense: In a thriller or mystery, multiple perspectives can be used to create suspense. At times, you may choose the point of view of a secondary or supporting character. This secondary character’s curiosity or confusion can guide the reader to ask the questions you want them to ask. Perhaps your main character knows something you don’t want the reader to learn yet. The secondary character doesn’t know the information, so narrating from their point of view allows you to withhold the information from the reader in a plausible way. Point of view can also be used for the opposite: to give a reader more information than the characters have. Switching points of view allows you to give your reader a fuller picture. For example, your main character doesn’t know that a killer is just outside the door, but by switching into another character’s POV, you can let the reader know something that the hero doesn’t. This tension will keep a reader on the edge of their seat.
To reveal an unreliable narrator: If your story is told in the first-person from the point of view of an unreliable narrator, you can switch to another character’s perspective later on to reveal cracks in the first version of the story. Your reader will then see the story in a whole new way. This can help you create exciting plot twists.
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