A friend of mine recently asked me if I’d always wanted to write dual perspective novels. I’ve been writing them for close to ten years now and I had to stop and think for a moment. The truth is no, I hadn’t. I always liked reading novels with multiple perspectives, so maybe somewhere deep in the recesses of my brain, I bookmarked it as a possibility, but all my first attempts in writing had been from a single perspective.
Actually, my first book – a manuscript titled Landscape of Little Dramas – was from the perspective of one character. My agent shopped that manuscript around for close to a year. I think it may have made it to an editorial meeting, which is exciting, but not as exciting as a publisher actually wanting to take a chance on it. Halfway through that year, I started working on something new. A story that would become my first published young adult title – THE PROMISE OF AMAZING.
When I first started writing it, I only ever intended to tell the story from Wren’s point of view but when I got to the end of the first chapter and the inciting incident, I realized that the other character in the story – Grayson, might have had the more interesting perspective at that moment. I told my agent my plan and she gave me the greenlight, although I think she might have said that dual perspective could be a “hard sell”. I forged ahead anyway, figuring in the very least that writing from a different point of view would be an interesting character study.
Writing from Grayson’s perspective was freeing. He was not as careful or shy as Wren and had a colorful way of speaking. He was also bit of a bad boy, and it was fun to delve deeper into his world. Once I started listening to him – he wouldn’t shut up. I’m not sure how long it took me to write a first draft – possibly a year – but it was always entertaining to switch up perspectives. The manuscript went through more drafts with my agent before it went out on submission in November of 2012. Shortly after Thanksgiving, we had an offer from Balzer + Bray, and on December 31, 2013 – THE PROMISE OF AMAZING hit the shelves.
Maybe the fact that I’ve had success with dual perspective novels is why I like to write them. Will I always write this way? I’m not sure. There are definitely some pros and cons to think about before you start:
My companion novels, The Promise of Amazing and The Secrets of Attraction
Photo credit: Robin Constantine
CONS
· Sometimes you may hit a point in the story that would be better told from the other character’s perspective, yet it’s not their turn to “speak” (so to speak). Then you have to do some creative thinking, and/or shifting of plot points around. My first three novels are all in a strict she said/he said chapter format and I know I ran into that problem at least once with each of them. My latest novel SOMEONE YOU LOVED takes a different approach, which made it easier NOT to fall into that trap. The book is divided into months – so each month is a chapter, with character sections in each. I could easily switch up between the characters as needed.
· The characters can start to sound the same. If you’re reading a section and need to think for a moment which character is speaking, you might need to change things up. An easy fix for this is to have rules for each character – maybe one has a certain quirky trait or rhythm to the way they speak. Or maybe one uses profanity while the other would never think to do that. When you’re first starting out, don’t worry about it, but during revision, make sure that each character is distinctly and uniquely their own.
· Another pitfall you’ll want to avoid is repeating the same scene through the second character’s eyes – unless it is incredibly important to the plot – you don’t need to do that. It’s tempting, of course, but in order for the story to move forward – it actually has to move forward. And both characters need to have their own arc, within the intersecting arc of the novel as well.
PROS
· It is SO nice to switch between perspectives! If you get bored or frustrated with one, you can jump to the other and see what they’re up to.
· You get to know your characters on a different level, and you also get to see each character and secondary characters through another lens. · Your creative chops get a workout. Each character needs to have their own flaws, and arc, and also an intersecting arc. It sounds more complicated than it actually is, but when it all comes together – it is so satisfying!
Did you know my first two novels THE PROMISE OF AMAZING and THE SECRETS OF ATTRACTION are companion novels? They are both standalone novels, but The Secrets of Attraction picks up shortly after the end of The Promise of Amazing and follows Wren’s bestie Madison Pryce and her search for love. She meets her match in broody barista Jesse McCann. Both Wren and Grayson appear in the book, and it was cool to see them and their relationship through different eyes!