...yes, I have already visited this thread (Switching Perspectives), but this is a different issue.

Ensemble pieces. In film, they tend to work well, exemplified by Little Miss Sunshine, Babel, Crash, etc. etc. However, how do we do this in prose? I've read the old masters, such as Dickens, and witnessed how they do it in works such as Hard Times, Animal Farm, and Frankenstein.

But in modern fiction, how do we write ensemble pieces, ensuring that no one character dominates the story and takes all the perspectives? Especially when you write Third Person Limited? I have no intention of writing a bunch of epistolary letters (Frankenstein, Dangerous Liaisons) or doing the "omniscient" Third Person Unlimited, since how do you do that without being jarring?

Is separating each of the perspectives by chapters, like GRRM, the only way to give each of the characters' equal weight? Moreover, do we have to follow a certain sequence of POVs? What if, at the climax of the story, following Carl's POV's with Lisa's POV would simply slow down the story and a POV from Tomas would maintain the momentum from Carl's POV?

And even beyond the topic of perspectives, how do we ensure that each character doesn't make more of a MC over another? Introducing Lisa via her POV in Chapter 3, when she hadn't been introduced previously to the readers in any of the preceding POVs (Carl, Radha, Tomas) would be too disconcerting, right?


I know this is a lot of questions, but I've already wanted to do the ensemble genre justice, but since it deviates a lot from the traditional "Hero/MC against Antagonist" recipe, I'm finding it hard to avoid slipping into monochromes.

Basically, Tomas and Carl would each consider himself as the Main Character/Hero of the story and consider the other the Antagonist/Villain. They're in conflict and make each other's lives horrible, equally. However, the POVs of Lisa, Radha, Leon, and others reveal that it's not that clear-cut. Indeed, Lisa the Optimist sees both Tomas and Carl as good people, while Radha the Misanthrope perceives both as fools.

Since Tomas, Carl, and Radha (the first three POVs) haven't met Lisa yet, and hence the reader hasn't yet been introduced to Lisa, I'm attempting to find a less clunky way of transitioning from Radha's to Lisa's POV.

Also, to make it clear, the entire cast live in the same, sleepy town. It's set in modern times and modern days. No crazy "different POVs separated by 50000 miles" here.

 

1) how do we write ensemble pieces, ensuring that no one character dominates the story and takes all the perspectives?

This is the trickiest part. Mostly because it's not the amount of time that is spent in that perspective that determines what dominates the story, but how much agency the audience perceives them to have.

Basically, make sure that every character has an equal ability to influence the plot, and demonstrate that ability to the reader. You could tell a story 10% from A and 90% from B and still have an equal strength of stroytelling (though it would be quite difficult), so long as you show that A is just as capable of determining the sequence of events.

2) Is separating each of the perspectives by chapters, like GRRM, the only way to give each of the characters' equal weight?

Is it the only way? No. Is it the simplest way? Yes.

You can tell multiple perspectives in the same chapter and give them equal weight, but it's much more difficult to segue effectively without the clear delineations provided by chapter bookends. If you can pull it off though, it's a lot more effective IMO. There's some good ideas on how to handle perspective changes in the Switching Perspectives thread.

3) how do we ensure that each character doesn't make more of a MC over another?

I touched on it earlier, but a main character is not determined by the amount of time you spend with them, but with how much power they have to influence the plot, at least in my mind.

As long as they have a clear degree of agency and the reader can connect with them, you're fine. The most common problem with "secondary" main characters is that they either a) get sidelined in favor of previous MCs, giving up their agency in favor of following or b) are unlikeable, especially compared to previously established MCs.

If you can avoid those pitfalls, it's not terribly important when they're introduced (though obviously you would have to avoid the standard Deus ex Machina type stuff that arises from introducing new characters/things late in a narrative).

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That's my take on all this anyway.

 

Thanks for the advice so far. If my post wasn't particularly clear to you, Sesc, just follow the bolded questions which Agayek answered. =)

Yes, I have a particularly great fear that I'll introduce a character and a new POV at the wrong time. Although the story features an ensemble cast, people are bound to, due to human nature, favour a particular person almost has an MC of sorts. A surrogate favourite. My worry is that if I'm not careful with handling new characters whose views are antithetical to the favourites', then I'll be setting myself up for a "Cersei situation". You know, when people groan whenever they reach a "Cersei" chapter in a GRRM book and simply wish to skip to the next POV. D:

 

Juggling five equally interesting viewpoints with equal exposure? Sounds like you have your work cut out for you. Personally I find every book with an ensemble cast has some kind of "Cersei Effect" -- even if I generally each PoV character, at some point in the story it will almost certainly get to a point where I groan at every single PoV switch. I guess switching viewpoints provides a better time to take a break from reading, though.

Does it work if you switch to Lisa to the second or even the first PoV? Obviously I don't know anything about the story, but if Lisa is new in town and that's why they don't know each other, having her as the first PoV could be an excuse to describe the town itself. It seems to me that you'd want to introduce every character as soon as possible, e.g. Lisa as PoV in Chapter 1 by herself, Tomas as PoV in Chapter 2 in an argument with Carl while Radha looks on and Leon plays peacemaker, Carl, Radha, and Leon as PoVs in Chapters 3-5 as a continuation of Chapter 2, then Lisa again in Chapter 6 when she meets at least some of the others.

Of course switching the PoV order might make absolutely no sense with what you've actually got planned and/or I could be completely wrong about introducing the cast ASAP, in which case the only advice I can think of is "try it and see."