POV question

[Wilde Silas]

Hi - new the forums/first post here. Used the search function but came up dry.

So we get to bend a few more rules in this genre, but what about POV? I'm starting a second draft of a YA espionage-style novel and I'm settled on close third-person multiple POV. Is there a rule about how many characters heads you can get inside of? Obviously too many becomes confusing, and I would think that 3-4 would be ideal. IIRC George R.R. Martin does 4-6 fairly successfully, but could this be stretched to 7 or 8? What about using it with a character who only appears in 2-3 scenes?

It's pretty tough to cull this down when you're trying to write 'epic' plots that stretch over entire kingdoms of geography. My first draft has at least 7 POV's right now, but 3 of them are only used 2-3 times. I've searched several books that touch on POV and surprisingly, none of them specifically mention this issue. Any examples of other authors who have done this well, or POV resources that speak to this? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[the_faery_queen]

as many as you need
i think that lots of pov heads isn't confusing. but lots of characters are. at least with a pov in each head you get to know the character and i find that makes it easier to keep track. but if you do what robert jordan did and just have TONNES of characters, then that's what's confusing. i think it may have been easier to follow if we'd been in more heads and characters had become more real because of it.

that's just me tho. i think everything comes down to personal preference. there aren't any rules

 

[Giovanna Clairval]

Hi, Wilde Silas,

An interesting discussion on this thread:

Need some help


I think that might be the thing... If not, ask more questions.

Giovanna