Tony Tips Tuesdays™: Writing Multi-POV Stories

If you’ve ever read a book that lets you step into the shoes of multiple characters and feel every heartbeat, fear, or revelation from their unique lens—then you’ve experienced the magic of a well-crafted multi-POV story.

But let’s be clear: this isn’t easy work. It’s a high-wire act between depth and confusion, clarity and chaos. When done well, multiple points of view don’t just tell a story—they reveal a world.

So today, let’s break it down: the why, when, and how of writing multi-POV fiction that resonates.

🎯 Why Use Multiple POVs?

Writing from multiple perspectives allows you to:

• Offer emotional depth through contrasting viewpoints.

  
  

• Increase tension by revealing information to one character but not another.

  
  

• Deepen reader immersion in the world.

  
  

• Show different sides of the same conflict or event.

  
  

• Explore themes from multiple angles—like truth, loyalty, trauma, and identity.

  
  

A single narrator can limit the reader’s access. But multiple narrators open the door to empathy, complexity, and layered storytelling.

🛠️ When to Use Multi-POV

Not every story needs it. Ask yourself:

• Does the story require insight from more than one character?

  
  

• Are the POVs tied to specific emotional or thematic arcs?

  
  

• Does each narrator push the plot forward?

  
  

If you’re just switching POVs for variety’s sake, stop. Every voice needs a reason to exist.

✍🏾 How to Distinguish Each Character’s Voice

1. Know Them Deeply

Before you write a word from their POV, understand:

• What do they fear?

  
  

• What do they want?

  
  

• What lie do they believe about the world?

  
  

• What’s their speech rhythm, vocabulary, emotional filter?

2. Write Like They Think

A teenage boy doesn’t narrate like a middle-aged woman. A soldier doesn’t see the world like a scientist. Every thought, metaphor, and sentence structure should reflect their mind.

“She walked into the room.”A poet might notice the flickering light across her cheek.A detective might scan her body language.A child might just say, “She looked mad.”

3. Use Word Choice and Syntax

Let their education, region, trauma, and personality shape their grammar and word preference.

4. Internal Thoughts Matter

Use internal monologue to show what they’re not saying aloud.

📚 Structure: Rotating vs. Split POV

➤ Rotating POV

(Every chapter or scene shifts to another character.) Great for epic stories, ensemble casts, or slow reveals.

• Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

• The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

➤ Split POV

(Alternating between 2–3 characters consistently.) Ideal for romance, dual protagonists, or contrast-driven stories.

• The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

• An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Choose the method that best reflects your story’s pace, tone, and needs.

💡 Avoid These Multi-POV Pitfalls

• ❌ Too many voices – Stick to essential perspectives.

  
  

• ❌ Identical voices – If I can’t tell who’s narrating without the chapter header, your characters need refinement.

  
  

• ❌ Unnecessary repetition – Don’t rehash the same scene from multiple POVs unless it changes the reader’s understanding.

  
  

• ❌ Info overload – Let each POV reveal new information. Don’t dump exposition.

🧠 Readers Are Smart—Trust Them

Don’t talk down to your readers. Trust them to track the shifts. But make the transitions clear and clean:

• Use chapter titles or character names.

  
  

• Add emotional cues or anchor details early.

  
  

• Maintain consistent POV formatting.

🌀 Using Multi-POV in S.O.L.A.D.™: Soldiers of Light Against Darkness™

In my S.O.L.A.D.™ series, I use multiple POVs not just for dramatic effect—but to mirror the spiritual and emotional journeys of the characters.

From Kevin’s growth as a reluctant yet destined leader, to Juanita’s emotional resilience and prophetic insight, to the internal struggles of other supporting characters, shifting perspective allows the reader to grasp the bigger battle: not just between light and darkness—but within each soul.

🧩 Examples of Great Multi-POV Fiction

📖 Books:

• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

🎬 Film/TV:

• Crash – Overlapping narratives about race, bias, and connection.

• This Is Us – Generational layers of perspective.

• The Crown – Shifting views across royalty, politics, and personal drama.

🎮 Video Games:

• Detroit: Become Human – Three distinct protagonists with choices that shape the ending.

• Final Fantasy XV DLCs – Insight through companion narratives.

• Red Dead Redemption 2 – Quiet character moments across perspectives.

✍🏾 Writing Exercises

• Write the same scene from two POVs. Then cut all repetition. What changes?

• Create a journal entry in each character’s voice.

• Rewrite a crucial decision moment from another character’s perspective.

📌 Tony Tip:

“Every character sees the same world—but never in the same way. Let that truth guide your POV shifts.”

When handled with care, multi-POV fiction invites your reader into something deeper: understanding. And that’s the highest power of storytelling.

Don’t write just to entertain. Write to reveal. Let every voice rise, ring out, and reshape the way your readers see the world.

📚 Want to see multi-POV in action? Read my S.O.L.A.D.™: Soldiers of Light Against Darkness™ novels—packed with emotional turns, divine battles, and layered voices that echo with truth.

✨ Get autographed copies directly at:👉🏾 www.tyronetonyreedjr.com/the-shop