The first time I came across this was in a short, self-published ebook that was free on Amazon, where the author started by warning the reader that it was written in a Multiple Points of View style ... unfortunately, the author should rather have warned that it was written in a clumsy, info dumps style ... which was much more of a problem for the reader. Fortunately, I can no longer remember the name of the story or the author. Unfortunately again, though, it was not the best introduction I could have had to the wider spread of useage that this format of mixed first person and third person narration is now receiving.
I am now reading more of the MPOV style where female Points Of View (mainly the principle heroine) are narrated in the first person and all others are in the third person. Kristen Ashley does it well and so I am getting used to it. It is a good device for solving the problem of immediacy vs the wider picture, but personally, I am still trying to work out alternative methods of achieving the same ends. I love Kristen's stories, but still feel slightly awkward flipping POV on occasion.
I like what Kayci Morgan did in Four of a Kind, where each character had a few chapters of first person narration of their part in the history (minimal or no overlaps and not necessarily consecutive or in time order). Changeovers were bridged by short third person segments in the present tense, but I feel this can only work for occasional books, rather than as a regular device.
Has anyone seen any other such structures used successfully?
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LOL... I do this all the time. (MPOV) So if you read When Love Is Not Enough, be warned ;) Although I am trying not to do this. Some people don't like MPOV at all so I am working on my style. I only have 2 published, with one on the way. I'm learning.
ReplyDeleteNo, I really enjoyed My Roomate's a Jock, Oh Crap! (great title, by the way ... Tells you exactly what you're getting!) The fact that I did not remember it being MPOV shows that you handled it seamlessly ... if it had felt awkward, I would remember it! :D
ReplyDeleteEva Marie Paulliere's One Woman is superb for Multiple Points of View all in the first person, as is Kade Boehme's Wide Awake.
There is no reason to shy away from that style if you are good at it (as you clearly are) and it tells your story effectively!
Just started 'When Love ...'(http://www.amazon.com/When-Love-Not-Enough-ebook/dp/B005JTRB6I/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374755789&sr=1-5&keywords=when+love+is+not+enough) and I see why you reacted the way you just have, to my post about MPOV! (Can't say too much without risking spoilers, but YOU know why I say that)
ReplyDeleteDO NOT worry! I LOVE it so far! As with Kade's Don't Trust the Cut (http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Trust-the-Cut-ebook/dp/B00DRBGHO2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374755740&sr=1-1), I am saving the rest to read when I am feeling really well (for some reason, Kade and I both had giggle fits when I told him I only read drivel when I'm particularly poorly!)