Addicted to YA discussion

Before I ask my question, I'll comment that I recently read the first two books in The Young Elites series (love btw!). It was the first time I read a book that had the MC chapters in 1st person, and a supporting character in 3rd person present. It worked, since it was nice knowing what else was happening, aside from the MC's own experience.

I'm working on the last book in my YA trilogy. The first two are 1st person. Book 1 was set in her home town, and the second is set in two different places. Although books 1 & 2 have different characters, they're part of the same plot, with Rayne serving as the one who's experienced both sides of the story.

For book 3, I'm tying in all 3 locations. I want to describe what's happening beyond the scope of what my protagonist knows (since it's not feasible to have her flying from one place to another, even if she does have a master eagle).

The chapters that don't involve my MC will eventually come together as the main plot unfolds, as opposed to just serving as insight into what's going on in other characters' heads. I don't want to use 1st person for the other characters, since the book is named after my MC. I also don't want to copy Marie Lu's decision to use the two POVs, unless it's been used in other books too.

So my question is, have you read any other books that use 1st person and 3rd person present in alternate chapters? Also, given that my first two books were entirely 1st person, would this be too weird to add 3rd person present chapters at this point, even if most of the book will still be from her pov?

I appreciate any thoughts you have. Thanks!
Quoleena

It can be difficult to make that work successfully.

If people are going to use multiple points of view (and I'm speaking as a professional editor here) it's better to do them all in third person. However, I think it's better to do one in first and the others all in third, rather than do what many do at the moment, and that's put them all in first and identify the POV character at the start of each chapter. I think that's a messy way to do things and often results in a lot of problems, especially if the writer is not experienced.

The main problem is that changes in POV styling, like changes in tense, can make the reader disengage from the story. It can be done but it can also be tricky. My advice to you is to try it and see what your editor says when you give it to him/her.

I actually have read a book that switched from first POV to third POV. It's called The Pledge by Kimberly Derting. Personally, I also think it can be very hard to pull off. I remember trying to do it with a book I wrote ages ago, but it was too disorienting. In my fantasy series, I tried to do multiple POVs in first person, but I have no idea how well that worked overall. I agree with Lynne that it is better to do it all in third person if you want to get into the heads of other characters. That's one of the questions I usually ask myself now in order to choose between first person and third person - do I want to write just from the MC's POV or multiple POVs?
If done well, I can see it working, but it's a difficult task.

L.C. wrote: "I actually have read a book that switched from first POV to third POV. It's called The Pledge by Kimberly Derting. Personally, I also think it can be very hard to pull off. I rememb..."

Thanks for the book link, L.C. And I agree about the multiple POVs. You run the risk of having the voices too similar. I'll leave getting into the heads of multiple characters to the likes of GRRM, since I'd much rather read it than attempt it.

I want to use 3rd person objective for the scenes that don't involve the MC. So, I guess I've decided that it's the way to go and seek out beta readers when the time comes.

Thanks for the response!

I would go safe with 1st person. BUT.
I just finished The Fifth Season which was -I think--extremely out of ordinary- in 2nd person. Yet it was not off. So, you know your story in your head just listen your heart about how you want to tell it.

Beste wrote: "I would go safe with 1st person. BUT.
I just finished The Fifth Season which was -I think--extremely out of ordinary- in 2nd person. Yet it was not off. So, you know your story in y..."

Thanks Beste!