POV on who?

[Flaviosky]

First of all, hello community.

I'd be very pleased to have your opinions on who would be the best choice for a POV on a specific scene. There are 3 possible choices and I have good reasons to chose any of them, so I'm a bit tangled right now.

First there is the female protagonist, a grumpy warrior princess (Diane), and a main male character (Raffale). The two had a crush for each other but a series of events led to a tense relationship between them. The other two characters are the male's girlfriends (yes, they're two). One is a childish and light-headed girl (Valerie) and the second is a composed and serene girl that is constantly trying to bond everyone together and the main responsible of this triad (Isalvine). Valerie is beginning to adapt to the relationship pushed on by Isalvine and dislikes Diane. Isalvine knows about the old crush that Diane and Raffale had and is willing to give Diane a chance to "join" as she did with Valerie.

The scene involves an amorous encounter between Raffale and Diane where the two forgive each other after the conflicts that arose between them, but Valerie finds them the morning after and gets furious. Isalvine is there too and wants to calm things down, willing to bring Diane into the relationship if that makes her and Raffale happy. Eventually, Valerie is convinced by Isalvine and lets Diane try this relationship they have, and a doubtful Diane promises to make an effort.

So I have lots of emotions that would make any of the three women an interesting POV of the scene:

- Diane, with her shame, guilt but happy to finally find some love.
- Valerie with anger, jealousy, grudge and final acceptance of Diane's right to find happiness after hearing Isalvine's words.
- Isalvine dealing with everyone's conflicting feelings with the purpose to have everyone happy.

Who would make the most interesting POV?

Thanks!

 

[sknox]

There's nothing like writing the scene. Pick any of them--roll dice, if nothing else--and write it. Something will happen in the process that will tell you what works for you. What we like is not relevant, not at this point. Yes, you might wind up writing the same scene from each of the three POVs, and that might feel daunting and even a waste of time, but it won't be.

Think of it as research.

 

[Wayne Mack]

Anything could work and it would depend on what the writer wants to emphasize. If it were me, I would probably break this into two PoVs. For the amorous encounter, I could see either Diane or Raffale; I'm not sure how either of the other two could observe the resolution between Diame or Raffale. For the aftermath, I would choose Valerie; she seems to be the one that would be emotionally affected. I would likely avoid using Isalvine, as I find intermediary characters are often less interesting; they have less stake in the outcome.

As noted by @sknox, I suggest just writing the scenes. Get something down on paper and if it works, great. I have also found times where I have gone back and rewritten a scene from a different perspective. Good luck!

 

[sknox]

Wondering about how a scene works before writing it is, to me, rather like wondering how a change in ingredients might make the cake taste different. Bake it and find out!

 

[Steve Harrison]

I have this problem often, as I mostly write using multiple POVs. When in doubt I will write the scene from all of them and choose the best one, which is often, but not always, quite a surprise.

I had a long six character scene once and it took a huge amount of time to write it from all of their POVs. And while I ended up using the most obvious one, the exercise revealed the thoughts of all of them, which gave me lots of insights into reaction and dialogue during the passage and really brought the scene to life in a way I hadn't expected.

 

[The Big Peat]

Gut instinct is Diane has the most at stake and is also more important to the plot from what you said.

 

[Swank]

Valerie's change of heart is so bizarre that I'd avoid trying to explain it through her own thoughts. It would be better to leave those inner machinations a mystery.

I vote for the obsequious Isalvine.

 

[msstice]

Think of it as research.

And that folks is how you can get a writer to do anything for however long you want.

 

[tinkerdan]

I think it would be a challenge to use Raffale as the POV--maybe as he vacillates between giddy joy and utter horror over the prospects in his life to come.

 

[ColGray]

You could also split the difference based on what the story demands of the scene-- like, why is this scene included within the larger plot structure? What is its purpose? What are the beats you want to hit in the scene?

From there, who "best" captures that purpose -- accepting that "best" is often a tough measure, but the one you're likely to know in your gut.

If there's no clear, gut reaction says X, or if you say, the scene needs to do A, B and C, but Character 1 is best for A and Character 2 is best for B and C, then you can split it-- start with one POV and swap to another ~50% of the way through. Use POV as a tool that strengthens your story.

Two quick thoughts:

1) I'd strongly suggest NOT to Rashomon the scene. Showing one scene from multiple perspectives is hard to do well (slows pacing to a crawl, is each perspective actually interesting, how many times can you do the same thing?).
2) Do you use multiple POV's consistently in the story? If you're busting it out here, i'd avoid it unless the change provides something irreplaceable to the story.