My first short story used 8 different POV characters and I thought it was genius

I spent 3 months writing a 50 page story where every single paragraph switched to a different character's head, thinking I was being clever like some literary version of a Tarantino movie. Then a buddy in my writing group said he had to keep checking who was talking and stopped reading after page 8. Has anyone else had that moment where a beta reader just gave you a blunt truth that completely changed how you approach a basic craft thing like point of view?

2 comments

2 Comments

tylerw7222d ago

Honestly that's brutal but probably exactly what you needed. What was the one thing he said that actually stuck with you and made you rethink everything, not just the POV but how you approach the whole story now?

johnfoster22d ago

Oh man, "brutal but probably exactly what you needed" - that's putting it mildly. The one thing he said that stuck with me was "I don't know whose story this actually is." That hit hard because I realized I was so busy playing with structure that I forgot the reader needs someone to follow. Now I treat POV like I treat ketchup on a hot dog - one dollop is plenty, more just makes a mess. These days I'll do max 2-3 POV characters and only if they've got completely different voices and goals. My last story had one head the whole way through and guess what, somebody actually finished it.