In previous posts, I’ve argued that your story should have a point, like a thesis statement that gives focus to your work. The way you will communicate this point is through the transformation of your main character. To paraphrase Lisa Cron, plot is what happens. Story is how the plot affects your character.
Just like your story will have more focus if there is one salient point, your story will also be more focused if you have one character who the story is primarily about. But how do you know who your main character is?
It might be your narrator, but not always
It might be the person who sets the story in motion, but not always
A good candidate for a main character is someone who:
Has the most at stake in the plot (internally and externally)
Is the closest to the events of the plot (emotionally and physically)
Has agency to move the story forward
Is plagued by a misbelief that is relevant to your story point
Has the most room for growth and change compared to other characters
Experiences an arc of change that demonstrates your story point
But what about…
As soon as I suggested choosing one main character to focus on, I’m sure that many of you leapt to examples of excellent books that have multiple POV characters like, all of the romance novels that have two POVs, or The Simon Snow Trilogy, or, An Ember in the Ashes, or Game of Thrones, or Six of Crows.
I’m not trying to say that multiple POV can’t work. Obviously, it can. However, there’s a couple of things to consider.
First, writing from multiple POVs is much harder than writing from one. Most of the writers who do it well have years of experience. Consider Leigh Bardugo who wrote Shadow and Bone exclusively from Alina Starkov’s perspective before wading into the world of six narrators in her companion duology. Or George R.R. Martin who had years of experience as a screenwriter before Game of Thrones. So yes, multiple POV absolutely can work, but it’s an advanced technique that you may not want to tackle if you don’t have a compelling reason for it and if you’re struggling with other parts of the novel-writing process.
Second, I think that in most cases of multiple POV stories, there is still one main character who is the focal point of the entire story. All of your other POV characters might have arcs, but those arcs will likely be more focused if they are in service to the development of one character.
Take Six of Crows. Although all six of the characters in the crew have arcs, I personally think the main character is Kaz Brekker.
Spoilers for Six of Crows follow! If you haven’t read the book, go read it. It’s brilliant. Then come back to this post to see if you agree with my assessment of Kaz.
The first chapter of Six of Crows is a prologue. It’s not until the second chapter that we meet the first of our narrators, Inej. Ok, you might be thinking. If Inej is the first narrator we meet, doesn’t that make her the main character?
It might.
But the very first thing we hear from Inej is about Kaz.
It is through Inej’s eyes that we get our first glimpse of Kaz and see who he is at the story’s opening. This is clever for a number of reasons. First, because Kaz is someone who has curated a fearsome persona in order to hide from what he perceives as his own “weakness.” By seeing Kaz through someone else’s eyes first we get to see Kaz the way he wants people to see him, before we get a look inside his mind.
The fact that we see him from Inej’s perspective is also extremely clever because Inej is both the person who sees Kaz the most clearly, and the person who Kaz most wants to hide from. His relationship with Inej is vital to his character transformation. Additionally, Inej is someone who watches from the shadows, so this introduction that shows her literally watching Kaz from the shadows perfectly sets up her character as well.
Not only does the story start with Kaz (albeit from someone else’s eyes), he is also immediately the character with the most agency. The other characters do his bidding. It is Kaz’s decision to accept the job to break into The Ice Court that launches the other characters into the story. The one thing that all the characters have in common is Kaz.
In isolation, this might just make Kaz the catalyst of the story.
And he might be no more than the catalyst if it wasn’t for the way that his inner turmoil drives the plot and the way that this heist uniquely challenges his internal beliefs.
To be fair, all of the narrators change. All of them are tested by the heist. All of them have a character arc. But Kaz is the one who has the most at stake. This quest is more closely related to his character wound than it is to any of the other characters.
For Kaz, everything relates back to the death of his brother, Jordie, and his desire to a) get revenge on the man he blames for Jordie’s death and b) his desire to never be “weak” again.
All of the other narrators in Six of Crows have a complete character arc by the end of the novel. Often in a multiple POV novel, the “main” character is the last one to have their big character epiphany. So, while the other characters have their big epiphanies during the heist and show their resolve to change through action, Kaz has changed, but not enough. He isn’t ready to give up on his quest for revenge. He isn’t fully ready to be vulnerable with Inej.
In fact, by the end of the book, Kaz is in a worse internal place than he was at the start.
Kaz is outmaneuvered and his enemies capture Inej – the person he cares about most. Kaz takes this as a sign that he has let himself be “weak” again and ends the book even more committed to fortifying his heart and unleashing his vengeance. There would be no need for a second book if it wasn’t for the fact that Kaz’s story remains unresolved at the end of the first.
Normally, comments are only open to paid subscribers, but I’d love to hear from you all on this. If you’ve read the book, do you agree with my interpretation that Kaz is the main character or do you think one of the other Crows deserves that title? If so, who and why? I’d also love to hear any other thoughts or questions you have about figuring out who your main character is.
Remember that we are all here to learn, so please be civil and kind in your comments!