Character Jumping

[PurpleXanmal]

So... I have a character jumping problem. All my series except one jumps between multiple protagonist characters. Tama -> Saki -> Tama -> Saki -> Lyran! -> Saki -> Saki -> Saki -> Tama.

Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Bimbanana]

Yeah i do that a lot in my story its basically becoming my style. Several characters POV jumps in one arc.
Some readers like it, some dont.

Just write it confidently and coherently

 

[Eldoria]

So... I have a character jumping problem. All my series except one jumps between multiple protagonist characters. Tama -> Saki -> Tama -> Saki -> Lyran! -> Saki -> Saki -> Saki -> Tama.

Anyone else have this problem?

Do you mean by multiple POV? My fiction also has multiple characters, each with a different POV in each chapter. I want to narrate a vast and immersive world. The multiple POV approach suits my narrative purpose.

Instead of having the protagonist travel the world, I narrate from the POV of another character (either a supporting character or an antagonist) in a different location, which creates a chain reaction that ultimately affects the protagonist's life.

I know some readers dislike it, but multiple POV approach has long been used in mainstream fiction like LOTR and A Song of Ice and Fire. The point is to use POV approach that suits your narrative purpose.

 

[Exiled_From_Earth]

I do this constantly...

The main thing I try to do is keep it consistent and keep it organized. I have a notebook that is literally just a list of major characters' initials and the corresponding chapter numbers where I want those characters to appear.

It looks something like this:

S, J 101

S, J 102

C, D 103

C, D 104

A 105

A 106

S, J 107

And so on and so on. It's just part of outlining and writing a multi-pov story, I guess.

However, this can also be tricky, because sometimes I'll want to show what the antagonists are up to, but I don't want to draw too much attention away from the main cast, so I usually try to limit them to having one occasional chapter.

But the real headache comes when I write chapters out of order and then want to rearrange or add things...

 

[Sylver]

Are you a writer for the Walking Dead?

 

[Dawnathon]

I don't use POVs much in the first place. Third person narration all the way. Sometimes in intermissions there will be focus on a different part of the world, but the main chapters have everything centered around the MC's actions. It might drift towards partial omniscience sometimes, such as narrating some context about another character shortly before they joined the scene, but those tend to happen with regards to the MC being unavailable.

For one example,

Spoiler: Mentions of self harm

the MC was wracked with guilt and decided one night to self-flaggelate to atone for their actions and be loved again. Very little actually shows the act itself, instead showcasing the other members of the manor having a cordial breakfast before going to check on the MC. You didn't see the act itself, but you can see just how horrific the sight was with that contrast against the calmness right beforehand. So even the temporary focus on a scene she's not in, it's still there to build up the impact her actions have.

Maybe some people call it head-hopping, but to each their own. I don't put much stock into subjective keywords. I prefer to just write how best suits the story, any keywords can be whatever the reader feels.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

To avoid this, write in first person... Well, even in True Blue, though, I have jumped between father and child - and had one planned arc told by a guest character, so this is not a perfect option... And the Jack Diamond books had one planned installment where he's in a coma for most of the story, and Carol and her dad swap narration tasks.
Guess I've only been able to stick with a single character in Strange Awakening.

The non 1p story I've stayed with the MC the most for is Digital Cowboy Dane - only had to "jump away" from him about four times so far, I think the chapters that were posted here had the first of those jumps before I had to take them down.
The story I am the worst with has an ensemble cast - when David West is present in a scene, he gets the POV for Between Earth and Pyrroth, but all of the other main characters, and some of the villains, have gotten their own sections, one that took a few chapters.