Tim Weed
UNLOCK NEW ENERGY WITH MULTIPLE POINTS OF VIEW

Point of view is one of the most important choices a novelist makes, yet many writers don’t give it the attention it deserves. The wrong choice can limit a story; the right one can bring it to life. There’s no formula—you have to experiment boldly to discover what works best for your novel.

One thing to keep in mind: you don’t have to stick with a single POV for the sake of consistency. You can write in third person with multiple viewpoint characters, in first person with alternating narrators, or even mix first, third, and omniscient. The key is to choose the combination that best serves your story.

Take Philipp Meyer’s The Son. It alternates between three narrators: the oral history of a nineteenth-century Texas patriarch, his son’s WWI diary, and a third-person account of a contemporary heiress. It sounds complicated, but it reads seamlessly.

If you use multiple POVs, you’ll need to “teach” the reader how to follow your book. A predictable rotation, established in the opening chapters—as Meyer does—helps create clarity and rhythm.

In my own novel, The Afterlife Project, I alternated between a semi-omniscient third-person narrator and a series of first-person diary entries. Writing the two timelines separately, almost as stand-alone novellas, let me shape each arc with care. Only then did I braid them together in revision, introducing the alternating structure from the very beginning. Cliffhangers and subtle connections between the threads built suspense, while the shift in voices kept things fresh  (I hope).

Many writers default to one POV and stick with it through draft after draft. But stepping back between revisions to reconsider your choices can make a decisive difference. If your novel feels stuck—or just a little flat—experimenting with different POVs can unlock new energy. And if multiple points of view add texture, urgency, or momentum, there’s no reason not to embrace that freedom.

Tim Weed is the author of The Afterlife Project (Podium Publishing, 2025) and two previous books of fiction. A former international travel guide, he serves on the core faculty of the Newport MFA in Creative Writing and is the co-founder of the Cuba Writers Program. Tim is the winner of several Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards, and his work has appeared in Literary Hub, The Millions, The Writer’s Chronicle, Talking Points Memo, and elsewhere. He divides his time between rural Vermont and the island of Nantucket. Read more on his website or check out Cleaver‘s interview with Tim from earlier this year.

Read more from Cleaver’s Writing Tips.