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I'm writing my book in the past tense (even though I hate it, it makes the most sense). I wanted to vary the POVs in the story. Should I scrap the idea, or is there a way to write it without it sounding terrible?

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  • Are they first or third person POVs?
    – Murphy L.
    May 29, 2022 at 1:48
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    Most books are written in the past tense, including many that use multiple points of view. What problem are you anticipiating?
    – Mary
    May 29, 2022 at 2:03

1 Answer 1

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Yes, you can write in past tense from multiple viewpoints. Most novice writers approach this by limiting to one character's viewpoint per chapter. But in the next chapter, a different viewpoint is fine.

To avoid sounding "terrible", clearly signal the new viewpoint at the start of the chapter. One way to do this is with an action.

CHAPTER THREE

Elizabeth threw the lump of clay, right onto the middle of the wheel. She hoped to work out her frustrations...

Here, readers are being clued into this chapter coming from Elizabeth's perspective. Provide clear signals for your readers and you should be fine.

There are more advanced tricks as well, but the best advice is to trust yourself, and have fun. The second best advice is to expect that you might need to revise your story down the road. That's OK. The best writers are willing to rewrite things when they aren't yet working.

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