Jennifer Lyon


Thursday, June 30th, 2011
Question of the Day

I love the book I’m reading, but I’m finding too many point of view shifts AWAY from the hero and heroine, and it’s annoying me. I’m wondering what you all think about that? How much do you want to know about secondary characters who might have been heroes and heroines in previous books, or the bad guys, or other characters that are NOT the hero and heroine?

12 comments to “Question of the Day”

  1. Viki S.
    June 30th, 2011 at 2:44 am · Link

    I like secondary characters point of view within a story but it has to be background. I don’t want them to take away from the main characters. And I do love main characters from previous books keeping in touch along with the bad guys. I like to know that they could be planning something and I try to think ahead.



  2. zoe
    June 30th, 2011 at 6:04 am · Link

    Im with you girls, i dont mind snipits of secondary characters like a little bit of backround info, how they met the hero for example and their views on things. but if those characters take the focus away from the hero and heroine then they become the main focal point in the story.



  3. B.E Sanderson
    June 30th, 2011 at 8:12 am · Link

    I guess it depends on how invested I am in the secondary characters. Like, if I’ve been reading the series through numerous books, I might be more inclined to like a view of what those other characters are up to in relation to the running thread. It also depends on how well the author can pull it off. If it throws me out of the story, I’m thinking they didn’t pull it off so well. Or maybe it’s just me.



  4. Amanda
    June 30th, 2011 at 10:13 am · Link

    I think it depends on how much I like the secondary characters. I enjoy it if it helps move the story along but sometimes it gets annoying. We read a book for book club last month that really annoyed the crap out of me because it was POV shift almost every paragraph, it was really hard for me to keep up with who’s POV it was at times.



  5. Jen Lyon
    June 30th, 2011 at 10:29 am · Link

    Viki, I know exactly what you mean. I think it’s when I feel like the H/H aren’t getting “prime time” pages. Like they are maybe a quarter of the story that I begin to skim the rest. But it might just be me :-)



  6. Jen Lyon
    June 30th, 2011 at 10:30 am · Link

    Zoe, thanks for the input. All this is helping me as I’m working on the new project.



  7. Jen Lyon
    June 30th, 2011 at 10:31 am · Link

    B.E., good points. Also each of us probably reacts differently. In this case, the series has built up so much, the threats are so numerous, I’m probably losing track a little bit–and that’s on me :-)



  8. Jen Lyon
    June 30th, 2011 at 10:33 am · Link

    Amanda, those head hopping POV changes can really bug me too. I’m constantly backing up to figure out who is thinking/saying what. I’m pretty pure about actual Point of View. Very view writers can pull off head hopping.



  9. Kat
    June 30th, 2011 at 12:29 pm · Link

    Sometimes when I am reading I am reminded of the scene in The Great Muppet Caper where Miss Piggy asks another character in the movie “Why are you telling me all this?” The charater responds “Its plot exposition it has to go some where.”

    It depends on how it is written. Every story needs to be its stand alone tale. If the story and Hero and heroine are stong enough and compelling enough they can make the plot tolerate some back story, but if they aren’t the focus it just becomes frustrating and not worth reading. It works better when the back story is done in converstion form between current charaters and only as relevant to the current plot as nessecary. Paragraphs of plot background done as flash back can become mono tone and make the story muddy.

    But I’m no editor. :oops: I just read a whole lot of books.



  10. ban
    June 30th, 2011 at 8:19 pm · Link

    I might be a rarity but, if it’s not a short novel, I like to know what’s going on with other characters too. ESP. if it’s a continuing series and we’re gonna see more of them in the future. I like seeing other characters move the plot forward not just move the MCs together …
    The first person who comes to mind (though not the best example) is J.R. Ward. Aside from the H/H, there’s always the POV of the bad guy and the guy who’s book comes next. I like the way she weaves them all together.
    Just my .02



  11. Jenn
    June 30th, 2011 at 8:53 pm · Link

    Kat, readers opinions is what I am looking for, thanks!



  12. Jenn
    June 30th, 2011 at 8:53 pm · Link

    Ban, I appreciate your 2 cents!



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