I enjoy novels written with multiple points of view. I love experiencing the same plot twists and storylines viewed from different perspectives. It’s amazing how the same event can look really different depending on who is telling the story. When I started writing my young adult novel in the Novel Incubator, I thought about using multiple points of view (POV), but ended up using the first person (at least for now). I still play with the idea of going back to trying new angles from other characters.
Getting Multiple POVs from Readers
Getting multiple points of view is a big advantage of participating in both the Novel Incubator and the Book Revision Lab. For me, I received invaluable feedback from 10 different readers. Each reader had a unique point of view, giving me something that has contributed to the ever-changing shape of my novel.
When I turned my rough draft over to my first readers in the Novel Incubator, I had the chance to listen to Shanda and Greg discuss my novel with each other. I realized my young adult novel included a pretty heavy event that took away from the story I wanted to tell. I ended up changing the event to something less serious, which resulted in keeping my protagonist’s story at the forefront of the story.
In a subsequent reading round, my readers Zoë and James discussed my ending. They brought up some very valid points about how my ending might conflict in some ways with the message I wanted to convey. I decided to change my ending which resulted in a much stronger character arc for my protagonist.
POV From Different Backgrounds and Experiences
The people in my writing community come from all different backgrounds and experiences, yet we all share the same desire to grow as writers. We are committed to helping each other make our work the best it can be. Having the opportunity to have so many sets of fresh eyes reading my work has been really useful to me. I know as I continue to revise my current work in progress, or when I write another novel down the road, it will involve, at least in some way, multiple points of view.
In the end, my work is mine, but it has definitely been influenced by many. Getting different points of view from many fresh readers has made my novel much better than if I had tried to write and revise on my own.