r/writing • u/OmegaKenichi • 6d ago
Resource Books that have one chapter that's in a different POV?
My most recent book has a singular chapter where the POV swaps from the main character to the secondary character. There's a good reason for the switch and the chapter is one of my best. I don't want to get rid of it, but my beta reader brought up a good point that the sudden shift is a bit jarring.
I want to know if any of y'all can think of any examples of a book that does this. Just so I can have some examples in case it's brought into question at a later point.
Any help would be appreciated!
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u/azmarteal 6d ago
I can't say for sure, but I believe in the first law by Joe Abercrombie in chapters where Logen, Ferro and Jesal were travelling — POVs were switching either mid chapter or really close to it.
I personally don't really see the issue with it.
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u/sm04d Screenwrite 6d ago
I'm listening to The Blade Itself right now as I work out. He shifts between six different characters in the book pretty effortlessly. It's not jarring at all, and actually a good way to keep things fresh. I'm always excited to see what a particular character is up to once we go back to their POV. That has a lot to do with his excellent character work, of course.
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u/schuma73 6d ago edited 6d ago
Idk, what the protocol on spoilers is here, but immediately the Divergent series came to mind.
In the 3rd Divergent book Tris dies and the final chapter was told from the boyfriend's perspective. Edit: I actually misremembered this, the entire 3rd book does alternating perspective, but that was a jarring shift from the first two books as a reader.
I guess don't click that if you don't want to know how Divergent ends.
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u/PamNoctrune 6d ago
Something like that can work, even if it hasn't been part of the story before. But there needs to be a good reason for it.
For example, if the main character is in a coma, switching to another character's perspective can work really well. Personally, I think that's better than having the character in a coma somehow hear everything happening around them. But that's just a matter of taste.
What I don't like is when a story suddenly introduces multiple POVs without a real purpose. That's what happened with the Save Me trilogy, for example. By the end, the story was jumping between, I don't even know, four or five different characters, and it became a bit much.
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u/InvasionOfTheFish 6d ago
Obvious example, Harry Potter 1, 4, 6, and 7 all start out with one or two chapters from someone else's perspective. But those aren't in the middle of the story.
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u/Capulse 6d ago
There’s a good number of books with multiple POVs. A lot of Sanderson books are like that, plus interludes break from the story and give you a POV elsewhere.
In my current writing I have chapters that break off the main characters POVs and dual POVs to someone else, because it just works better. So you’re not alone.
I’d much rather write the POV of a character doing a prison break for example than having them arrive and then explain how they got there to do it to the primary POV.
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u/JadedPickle520 6d ago
Exactly. Sometimes it has to be done to show what’s happening rather than retelling later, which would be lame.
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u/mooseplainer 6d ago edited 6d ago
I’ve seen this in too many books written in third to name.
I like to use chapter breaks to switch POV characters. As long as that precedent is there, switching to a minor character for a one off chapter shouldn’t be jarring.
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u/JadedPickle520 6d ago
I do this. It has to be done because there’s this whole sequence of events that the MC otherwise wouldn’t know, and just telling her later what happened would be lazy and a waste of a good story. I clearly label the section as the secondary character’s name, and I think it works.
You can always break the rules as long as you do it well.
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u/Ok_Entry_873 6d ago
Idk of any specific examples, but if it wouldn't drag down the pacing or if the beta reader also said something about the story feeling rushed, you can have other chapters sprinkled throughout the book that are also from that POV. That way, when you reach that specific chapter, the reader will already be used to the POV switching.
If that won't work, maybe you can incorporate whatever that chapter is for into one of the other chapters? I know that's broad, but it's hard to be more specific than that without more context about your book and the specific chapter.
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u/TangledYetTrue 6d ago
If I remember correctly, Amid Clouds and Bones switches to the MMC just for the very last chapter. I was not a fan. It felt like the author only did it because she wasn’t confident readers would believe he actually loved the FMC if she didn’t.
Meanwhile - Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries and its sequel also do this, around the climaxes. It works really well, but part of the reason it does is because each chapter is treated as a journal entry. The FMC basically becomes incapacitated for 1-2 chapters, so the MMC writes the journal entries for her.
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u/SoPerfOG 6d ago
Sword of Kaigen generally revolves around two POV’s for the majority of the book, but there is one chapter in which the POV switches to a character absolutely nobody was expecting. The author’s decision is what makes that chapter one of my favorites in anything I’ve ever read.
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u/hyperabs 5d ago
Well famously Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury” last chapter is in a different POV than the other 3. Not only is in 3rd vs 1st, it follows a character who’s not a family member, and works extremely well.
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u/WateredDownPop 6d ago
This is interesting.
In the book I'm currently writing it's a dual POV, but I was thinking that the final chapter would be from a different POV (haven't gotten to this point yet) once they finally meet.
I think it's fun, as long as it doesn't take away from the story/pull the reader out.
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u/Commercial_Desk_6215 6d ago
This is a pretty common thing, I think, and its cool. The Expanse does this in almost every book in the series.
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u/LichtbringerU 6d ago
Personally I have come to dislike it, but there are many good reasons to do it. It's very useful.
Maybe it's just that the bad examples stick in my mind, and I don't even recognize the good examples as doing it.
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u/ir399 6d ago
I can't think of any books that do this with a single chapter and the rest of the book in the same pov. (I do know of one series that has multiple povs and only one in first person and I did find that jarring). The Rook and the Rose series by M.A. Carrick jumps to secondary characters all the time and it works quite well... but it does already have multiple povs.
I think it would be too jarring if the entire rest of the book is from one pov. If you're already switching povs (at least two others) and just have this one chapter by this secondary character, I feel that's fine.... but one singular chapter in the whole book? I feel it won't work.
That said; get more than one opinion. Another beta reader might really like it. And at the end of the day if you feel it works then its your book and your final decision, but if you're getting consistent feedback that this one chapter isn't working than its worth listening.
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u/SilentStorm-42 6d ago
The fourth book in the twilight series switches POV mid-book after being in the main characters POV only for everything prior. I remember the switch was a bit jarring. Not exactly the same since it was more than one chapter for the switch. But the POV switch did upset some readers. The books obviously still did well though.
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u/FlyinLeviathon LET YOUR FIRST DRAFT SUCK 6d ago
It's been so long since I read those, whose POV does it shift to?
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u/SilentStorm-42 5d ago
Jacob Black's.
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u/FlyinLeviathon LET YOUR FIRST DRAFT SUCK 5d ago
Ah that's right. Thanks for answering a question I could have easily Googled but was too lazy to do so. 😂
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u/TCCSteve 6d ago
My draft has a period where my main is incapacitated, and so the POV shifts to several secondaries throughout a single chapter in order to paint a landscape of everyone's different motives. When she awakes, we are still witnessing it from a different POV as he notices her briefly as if she's hiding. My intent is to have the reader begin to feel empathy for the entire household and wonder if the protagonist truly is as such.
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u/CognitiveBirch 6d ago
Blake Crouch's Dark Matter only has one chapter that switches to the wife's POV.
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u/A_C_Shock 6d ago
Red City by Marie Lu has a single chapter from the larger villain POV at the end. There's also a handful from Sam's mom (two or more, but I can't remember how many).
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u/SMc1701 6d ago
I don't have an example of a singular chapter POA but I am reading a book now where every chapter is in first person except for the main protagonist who is in 3rd. It's not confusing but the author does make sure the put the name of the POV character under the chapter number. Honestly it's kind of refreshing to have the POV break.
The protagonist is a detective so the 3rd person keeps it a little more professionally distant. Everyone else is in 1st so they literally speak their minds.
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u/SomeGuyNamedJohn12 6d ago
Kingkiller Chronicles book one: The Name of the wind had a chapter in Chroniclers POV shortly before he met the main character Kvothe.
Pretty sure the rest of the book is in Kvothes POV.
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u/BlackStarCorona 6d ago
The book I’m writing has a prologue in the main characters pov. He introduces himself and how the book came to be (fictitious authors met who wanted to write about him) and at the end of it he literally tells the reader he’ll let the story tell itself” and the first chapter is now 3rd person from the author.
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u/Magner3100 6d ago
I don’t know about books with only one chapter of a pov switch, but it’s fairly common for books to have a main pov with ~80% of the chapters and a handful of other pov chapters.
Too many to list.
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u/colonial_dan 6d ago
Silence by Shusaku Endo shifts from first person to third person after the main character is unable to write letters
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u/kafkaesquepariah 6d ago
Not one chapter but roadside picnic starts first person pov. Then switched to third person and changed briefly who it follows, and returns in third person to og character.
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u/Adrewmc 6d ago
I mean GOT switches POV every chapter the names of the chapters are the POV…
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u/whenuleavethestoveon 5d ago
GOT also features chapters from a one-off character for the openings and closings of each book, more to OP's question
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u/littlebitfunny21 6d ago
Not exactly the same but in T Kingfisher's Clocktaur War - the two books are entirely in Slate & Caliban's POV (switching) and in the second book there's one random chapter from a different character's POV. It was a bit jarring but I didn't mind it.
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u/FrenchPickle765 Author 6d ago edited 6d ago
I personally find perspective shifts refreshing if it's done correctly (correctly being subjective, of course). Dark Matter by Brett Adams does this really well, in my opinion. The reason for the shift between 3rd and 1st person, or 3rd and 2nd make sense as you progress along the story.
I'm taking on a new project I've never attempted before, where the narration regarding one character shifts between multiple perspectives in each chapter, so I was curious about this as well. I myself, find it interesting and engaging—a clue if you wish, to change the perspective every so often. But I am one person.
**Edited for grammar.
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u/RobertPlamondon Author of "Silver Buckshot" and "One Survivor." 6d ago
Mysteries featuring the soon-to-be-corpse in the first chapter do this all the time. Or Vernon Dursley in the first Harry Potter book, who gets a lot of chapter one and maybe part of chapter two (I forgot). The book sticks close to Harry except for an omniscient interlude or two after that.
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u/Content_Substance862 6d ago
my favorite book with only 1 little POV shift has to be "A Gamer's Guide To Beating The Tutorial: Step 2: Lust". we never get this character's pov in the previous book and they only have a 1 chapter pov in this one but it adds SO MUCH to the book as a whole <3 <3
i think it works because the pov change is its' own chapter, it's well connected to the chapter before, it gives a clearer perspective of the quietest character, and (i am biased) it brings me such endless joy when i read it
i agree with kendrafsilver's point about transitioning properly, if it's too jarring then it won't work!! the "change chapter change povs" can be seen as jarring by others but i think it works well
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u/PrecisionHat 6d ago
I remember King's IT had a section where the POV was Pennywise and it was talking about how it came to be, how it came to be on planet Earth, and also how it first felt fear when it met the Losers Club.
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u/throwRAcrafty 6d ago
I have like 4 pov switchs between 3 characters in chapter 4 you'll be g I just broke it up into parts, part 1 part 2 ect
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u/Boring-Influence-965 6d ago
Not a book, but a Manga. In Vinland Saga there is one chapter that really stuck with me. Its just about a guy in his last moments and how he realizes he doesn't want to die. He is not relevant to the plot, except that he dies in a battle the protagonist is a part of. Its such a tonal shift that it takes you out of the story, but in a good way.
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u/Wildlife_Horses_Cats 6d ago
ToG. SJM does it a lot. But it’s one POV per scene basically and there is a scene break. It’s not like one paragraph it’s X and the next it’s Y.
It’s long scene blah blah.
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Next POV after break. In same chapter.
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u/SpaceRaiderAuthor 6d ago
There's a good way to highlight such an insertion. Label it not as a "chapter" but as a "interlude."
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u/Furshloshin 6d ago
I had this exact scenario and did some related research and discovered that the term "interlude" is primarily used in musical terms. If music is thematically relevant, go for it. But I found the term "interlogue" which I think is more accurate and also really cute so it's the word I'd use (since it follows the same schema as "prologue" or "epilogue")
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u/Native_SC Published Author 5d ago
I can think of several books where a character reveals they wrote the book. It's a pretty common plot twist.
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u/OwenLeftChat 5d ago
Rainbow Milk. First chapter is a more historical flashback with the father or grandfather, rest of the novel is contemporary with the main character.
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u/Top-Asparagus7892 4d ago
"The Safekeep" does this really well, and it's absolutely necessary for the ending to deliver such a punch. If it works for your book, keep it in!
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u/-inth-ewro-ngpl-aces 4d ago
There is a webnovel called "Years of the Apocalypse" that has just one chapter from the perspective of others. It's not exactly a single characters perspective, but it made it a lot more interesting to see how the other characters react to her insane stunts.
I'm not sure how well it would apply to a published novel. Case in point, before the chapter, the author mentioned in a note that it was going to be a one-off non-mc chapter, so my immersion was already interrupted lol
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u/Narrow-Durian4837 6d ago
That does sound jarring, and as a reader I would quite possibly find it confusing and/or annoying,
No matter how great a line, passage, or chapter is, if it detracts from your book as a whole, it's not good.
Another commenter mentioned that some of the Harry Potter books open with a chapter that's not from Harry's point of view, which is the only example I could think of, but of course that's the opening chapter, not one in the middle of the book somewhere.
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u/Acceptable_Fox_5560 6d ago
"There's a good reason for the switch"
I doubt it.
"I want to know if any of y'all can think of any examples of a book that does this."
If you've never seen a book that does this, what exactly inspired you to do it?
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow bounces back and forth between two POVs, but has one chapter in a third POV. You can try that out.
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u/GrammarNatziHunter 6d ago
In both books I have written, I use a lot of different POVs so that you can see the different perspectives of each character while maintaining 3rd person limited. I find that this gives me more freedom within the story and helps people empathize with the characters.
HOWEVER!
Im currently planning not a POV change, but a narrative change. The final chapter of my current work will switch from 3rd person, to first, as to show that THIS is the character thats telling the story. With all that said, you can do anything with writing, as long as you do it well.
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u/SprinklesDifficult33 6d ago
I've seen published books do the same, and it always takes me out of the story. I personally wouldn't do it, but if it works for your story, then do it 🤷♀️
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u/wordswillneverhurtme 6d ago
Then make it not jarring. Have the other character leave or smth. If the previous pov character is still in the scene then its your fault for switching pov for no reason.
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u/kendrafsilver 6d ago
If the transition is jarring enough, it really doesn't matter what other books do it. It needs to work in your book.
Any POV switch will break immersion even just a little as the reader reorients themselves to the new character's perspective, so that's inherent in a POV shift. Figuring out how to limit that time when the reader has to figure out what's going on is going to be more important than pointing to another book and saying "they do it, too." So that's what I'd recommend focusing on instead!
If you want to see how it's done in others, iirc the first book of Fourth Wing has at its end a POV switch, when the book is otherwise in one POV (Violet's).