Thread: The Perspective Switcheroo

I need some advice for the Sci-fi Novel i'm working on. The science part of it doens't start for about a week into it. And during this 'normal' week, I want to explain and develop the character's a little bit, before they go on their even-crazier adventure. Each individual story will be from a different character's perspective.(The perspective might not even be the character that the story would be about.) These stories all lead up to the same event that takes place at the same time in all three stories. I was wondering what would be the best way to seperate, organize, and present this story without too much confusion to the reader. I've thought about putting them into chapters, which works up until the event, but then I run into a problem. Even after the event, I can not switch it to a single perspective that will cover the entire story. I'm still going to require some different perspectives for at least a little while, possibly a couple chapters or more. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------My question is: Is there a way to switch perspectives within a chapter without causing too much confusion? I was wondering what novel's do this type of thing already to do some research. Unforunately when it comes to novel's, I'm an utter noob, so I have no inkiling clue as to what to do.

Usually perspective is maintained throughout a single body of writing such as within a chapter, but a break in the chapter can be used to facilitate a change the in point of view. Having said that, some writers go ahead and head-hop every now and then if the situation calls for it (the POV characters dies or passes out or leaves the scene).
There aren't really rules to follow and each situation should be judged individually. If the scene could use a change in perspective then by all means don't let other people's advice stop you, but once you've jumped, stick with it. Don't go jumping around every sentence.
My advice (which should be completely ignored if you disagree) is to change POV mid-scene if it feels right and that nitpicky rules will only get in your way, but don't do it on a whim.

Oh, and make sure it's clearly marked. No sudden switchover mid-sentence.

POV changes within chapters are, from what I've seen, done with line breaks.

John stumbled down the stairwell, his grip on the railing sliding from the blood on his hands. "Come on!" he yelled, spurring himself on. "You can do this!" The entrance to the stairwell above him burst open, and John looked up in time to see a man enter holding a shotgun. There was no other choice -- he had to jump. He threw himself over the railing and heard the man cock the gun.



Claire jerked awake and wiped the drool from her cheek with the sleeve of her sweater. What was that noise? It sounded like... a gunshot. But how could that be? Who would be shooting here, in an electronics warehouse? She plopped her glasses on awkwardly and rolled her chair towards the window. It was getting dark out. How long had she been sleeping?


Something like that could work. There's a clear break of space that lets the reader know a shift has occurred (be it in time, or space, or POV). I recommend you just go for it, like felix said, and then later on, once you've got the whole story written down, you can go through it and determine how you want to section everything off.

sweet, thanks for the advice, I'm sure it will be very handy.