Wednesday, September 12, 2018

How to Write a Book with Multiple Points-of-View by M.T. Ellis @mtellisauthor #Azrael #writing

How to Write a Book With Multiple Points-of-View

I learned a few things while writing my debut crime thriller, Azrael. One of them was how much work goes into writing a book with multiple points-of-view. Try these tips when writing your next story.

No head-hopping.

When writing a book with different points of view it is important to make sure each scene is only from one perspective. If the scene is from Jane’s first-person POV make sure you don’t write things like, “She saw the fish swimming in the lake,” if your previous sentence read, “I walked towards the lake, fishing rod in hand.”

You can change POV or perspective if there is a clear distinction like at the end of a scene or chapter — just don’t do it mid-sentence or mid-paragraph because you will confuse your reader.

Consistent voice.

Keep each characters’ voice consistent throughout the novel. If Jane is a strong woman who swears like a sailor in her first few chapters and all of a sudden she starts crying all the time and says things like, “Oh darn,” the reader may not believe the story’s ending if it turns out that Jane needs to stand up to an aggressive person in the final chapter.

Make it obvious who the scene or chapter is about.

Start the scene with a sentence that lets you know who it’s about. You could use the character’s name or you could be more subtle and use description to show the reader who’s involved. For example, “Her blonde hair swayed as she walked,” would show that the scene is about the female character with blonde hair.

Give each character obvious differences to help the reader keep up with who the chapter is about. Jane may speak with short sentences and aggressive words and Peter may stutter and always use his manners.

Tense

Play around with tense when writing your novel to see which suits each character. For example, the main villain might be scarier written in first-person where you can hear his thoughts but it might sound right for the same story if the detective’s POV is in third-person and the narrator tells the reader what’s going on.

Be organised.

Write out a sentence or two summary of each scene or chapter and move them around until it feels right, then write the chapter in that POV. This is especially helpful when trying to figure out which character should be the one to reveal each new clue or turning point in the story.

It may help to keep a list of character traits and a description of each character handy to make it quicker to look things up when writing the story.

End each chapter or scene with a hook.

In a novel with multiple points-of-view, it can be a few chapters before you get back to each one. Leave the reader wanting to know what happens next so they don’t forget each character by the time they get back to a scene with their POV.

About the Author

M.T. Ellis is a Brisbane/ Lockyer Valley-based author. Her debut crime thriller, Azrael, won Bronze in the 2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards, Suspense/Thriller Catagory. Her short story, The Ballerina in the Box, was short-listed in the Australian Writers’ Centre Furious Fiction Competition. Two of M.T. Ellis’s stories made it onto a billboard during the Queensland Writers Centre’s 8 Word Story competition.

Her dogs, Opal, Zeus and Matilda, occupy a lot of her time. She would write books about their adventures if she thought people were even half as interested in them as she is.

M.T. Ellis is an Australian Writers’ Centre graduate, freelance writer and journalist. The second novel in her Detective Allira Rose Series will be out on October 1, 2018.

Her latest book is the crime thriller, Azrael.

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About the Book:

Title: AZRAEL
Author: M.T. Ellis
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 340
Genre: Crime Thriller

BOOK BLURB:

Emily thought her ordeal was over after she escaped a brutal kidnapping. She’s wrong. He’s coming for her again.

The body Detective Rose is looking at bears a striking resemblance to Emily, a woman who survived a horrific, sexually motivated abduction five years ago. Her fear is confirmed when Emily goes missing again.

When another woman, Grace, is abducted, Detective Rose finds herself doubting the instincts that tell her the disappearance is the result of intimate partner violence. She connects the cases and recruits Grace’s partner, Ethan, to help in the search. Together they must find Grace and Emily before it’s too late.