How to Use Multiple Point of View Characters to Create a Fully Developed Historical Setting

History isn’t the same for all characters. Age, experience, cultural and social background, and interaction with others determines the world we create for them and the reader.

(The Perils, Pitfalls, and Remarkable Inspiration of Writing Women's Historical Fiction.)

I write an “it takes a village” kind of story, and I’m a firm believer in multiple POVs, whether I’m writing contemporary women’s fiction or historical fiction. Regardless of the genre, and whether you write large casts or small, having more than one person’s take on the situation can lead to a fuller, richer, and more complex story.

And having more than one take on their environment gives more depth to the setting as well as to the characters, creating an emotional bond that puts the setting into play as a character itself.

We’re all familiar with the trope of a rich Victorian lady whose carriage somehow gets stuck in traffic in the slums. She sees the squalor, the dilapidated buildings, the filthy people, etc. Maybe she’s appalled or sympathetic. A beggar boy thrusts his hand in the window for money. She’s repelled but throws him a coin then quickly shuts the window, and the carriage drives on.

We could follow her into the next scene, home or to a party, where she can relate the story to her friends while sitting in an opulent drawing room and let the reader make the comparison or let the scene slip into the past.

But reimagine the scene… the boy thrusts his hand in the carriage window, the carriage jumps forward but instead of continuing with the carriage, we cut to the boy, thrown back and sitting in the mud and horse droppings, clutching his coin lest it’s stolen by the local bullies. He struggles to his feet, dodges a passing wagon, and scampers toward a derelict building, just as someone throws a pail of slop water from a floor above, barely missing him. He slips into the dark doorway… The reader gets a more visceral sense of scene than if we had stayed with the carriage.

That’s a simple one, and not very subtle, but any scene in varying degrees can elicit the most from interaction between a character and the setting. Use two POVs, and suddenly you have a deeper, richer story.

The boy has become a secondary POV character, but only if he is going to be a part of the continuing story. If not, then stick with the carriage and the boy becomes a footnote to the lady’s story.

Only use the number of characters essential or tangentially important for POVs. Take away a POV and you can lose a big chunk of the story; use too many and you risk diluting tension and causing confusion. Like Goldilocks, you need to find the number that’s just right for the story you want to tell.

In my The Sisters of Book Row, three sisters in 1915 Manhattan live above their inherited rare book store. It sits among several blocks of used and rare bookstores. It’s a community, a neighborhood. I chose to give each sister a POV, even though most of their lives revolve around the same setting—the bookstore. However, the few times they move out of this setting, those settings become pivotal to the plot and the dramatic arc.

The oldest, Olivia, is tied to the store by love, even though she knows it will soon become her prison. Daphne is good at selling and the darling of the customers but longs for a different life, to be married with a husband, a house, and children. Celia, the youngest, sees it as a chore, her duty to her sisters. But her passion lies in working to improve women’s health. It’s the same setting, but holds different meanings, evoking different emotions for each sister which transforms the store into much more than rows of shelves holding books.

Setting in this case becomes a character. It is loved by the whole neighborhood. A sanctuary for a group of old men reliving their glory days. A repository for classical works that have to be hidden from view. Hated by the overzealous book banner, Anthony Comstock. The scene of a cat and mouse game between adversaries. So much more than rows of bookshelves.

Anyone who watches television or film is adept at understanding multiple POVs. Many scene changes are just that. They flip back and forth in quick succession. In film you can get the setting, the character, the emotion, the costume change, and a variety of other elements in a few seconds. It takes writers longer and more page space. It doesn’t have to slow the story down, but it does take some attention in order to establish character and setting quickly with each POV shift. Beyond a line break or designated chapter, it is a good idea to reintroduce the character by name, doing something in a certain setting in the first couple of sentences to reorient the reader, similar to an establishing shot in films.

Here is a simple transition between a Celia scene and an Olivia scene:

After a few moments of wondering if there would be a knock on the door, she (Celia) let out her breath and tiptoed upstairs to bed.

Adding a line break between scenes denotes a POV change.

Olivia looked out the parlor window to the avenue below. It was after eleven, and Celia had yet to return. (We see Oliva in the parlor at eleven o’clock in one line of text)

Two characters in the same setting, one sneaking in, relieved; the other looking out, worried. Seeing the setting through different eyes, both physically and emotionally, gives the surroundings more dimension and interaction, gives life to the setting as a character and not just a piece of descriptive narration. Instead of backdrop, it becomes a supporting, dynamic element of the story itself.

Whether using several POV characters with different relationships with one setting or different POV characters acting in separate worlds, the result should be an integrated tapestry of plot, character, and place. And a richer experience for the reader.

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