Multiple narrators

[Gennifer Albin]

I'm experimenting with a WIP with multiple narrators.  Anyone have any suggestions regarding this or strong examples of multiple narrators?

[kate bassett]

I know Shiver and Linger are really popular right now and they both have multiple narrators-- I think Linger might have four or five....of course, there is always As I Lay Dying-- I'm pretty sure Faulkner had 15 narrators.

[Gennifer Albin]

wow, I totally forgot Shiver has multiple narrators...not sure what that says? Not sure I'm up for Faulkner right now, but then again when are you up for Faulkner?

thanks
kate bassett said:

I know Shiver and Linger are really popular right now and they both have multiple narrators-- I think Linger might have four or five....of course, there is always As I Lay Dying-- I'm pretty sure Faulkner had 15 narrators.

[Susan Kaye Quinn]

I'm seeing a lot more multiple narrators in YA and MG that I ever expected! I have multiple narrators in my (published) YA book and in my (soon to query) MG WiP.

[Nikki Katz]

I am dying to try this out actually :) Linger has four characters. Maggie's other novel (Ballad) has two, but one is more secondary than the first - but interesting if that's what you are considering.

Incarceron is a great dystopian novel with Male/Female POV (who aren't boyfriend/girlfriend)!

[kate bassett]

Bahahah! You are so right re: Faulkner. I think heavy drinking is required beforehand. Also, I think there was talk about publishing that book with different typesets for every narrator-- what does that say?

Jennifer Albin said:

wow, I totally forgot Shiver has multiple narrators...not sure what that says? Not sure I'm up for Faulkner right now, but then again when are you up for Faulkner?

thanks
kate bassett said:

I know Shiver and Linger are really popular right now and they both have multiple narrators-- I think Linger might have four or five....of course, there is always As I Lay Dying-- I'm pretty sure Faulkner had 15 narrators.

[Mary Jo Campbell]

Jodi Picoult is famous for multiple narrators: she gives each character their own chapter and changes the font. One I just finished: Handle With Care. Though not sure you mean characters as narrators?

[Alysia Mathews Broadfield]

Simone Elkeles did it really well in Perfect Chemistry. It's alternating 1st person POV of the two main characters.

[Tabitha Olson]

Multiple narrators are hard, but can be really effective. I think a really good example is The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. It's told from the POV of four girls, and we learn each of their stories.

In The Path of Falling Objects by Andrew Smith is another good example of multiple POVs. And there's also The Book Thief, Shiver, Blue Plate Special, A Kiss In Time, Skin Hunger, and Sacred Scars. The various narrators in these books all have a purpose to further the story, and they have their own character arc and growth.

Hope that helps!!

[Georgia McBride]

My novel PRAEFATIO has a prologue with a different narrator than the rest of the book. I wonder how that will work out. The Prologue continues during the course of the book as part of a passage in a book that the MC is reading. It is not narrated.

[Kurt Hartwig]

Wow - this party looks long over, but I'll reply anyway.

Jonathan Stroud's BARTIMAEUS series is pretty fantastic. Whenever our (anti?)hero Bartimaeus is in the driver's seat, the book is 1st person. If the action follows one of the humans, Nathaniel for example, it shifts to 3rd person, even if Bartimaeus is present in the scene.

In addition to which, Bartimaeus is a charming, self-absorbed rogue of djinn (4th level, he'll insist on informing you) and the stories are themselves delightful.

[Brianna Lebrecht]

I think CJ Redwine did a fabulous job in Defiance with multiple narrators.  Strong characters to narrate too.  

By the way, I've just completed my first MS, which happens to alternate narration between the two MCs.