My Next Life as a Villainess: How Not to Do Switching POV

One of the most basic and important choices when it comes to writing is the point of view- first or third person, and one POV character or several, among other choices. In most cases, there are no absolutely right or wrong answers; it's merely a question of what best fits your story. That being said, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead To Doom! makes the questionable choice to show the same scenes from multiple points of view, and I will examine why this is a mistake.

Choosing A Narrator

In any work with multiple POV characters, the author must choose which character will be the POV character for a given scene, since the author can only provide one perspective on each scene (unlike omniscient third person POV, which can share characters' thoughts whenever the author feels the need). There are a few things to keep in mind when making that choice.

The first and most simple criterion for a narrator is someone who witnesses the events the author wants the readers to see, and only those events. Obviously, the perspective of a POV character is a bit like a movie camera, so when authors want to show readers an event, they'll need a character to see what happens and share it with the reader. There will often be times when the main protagonist doesn't see everything important that happens, in which case the writer will have to have the protagonist split POV character duties with others.

That being said, there are times when it's best to not show readers events. For example, in a murder mystery, it's best not to show the actual murders, but instead focus on how shocked the POV character(who should be the detective or the detective's assistant) is to discover the body. There are also times when it's best to have a character hear about an event second-hand, often to make what actually happened ambiguous. For example, if Alice, the narrator, hears from Bob that Charlie attacked him, it might actually turn out that Bob lied to turn Alice against Charlie.

It also helps to make the POV narrator unaware of things the reader should be learning about for the first time. As mentioned above, Bran asks why Ned executes prisoners himself, and whether there's any truth to Will's claims. That being said, a skilled writer can convincingly deliver exposition by having characters talk about what they already know.

Case Study: A Game of Thrones

For an example of how to effectively use switching POVs, let's look at A Game of Thrones, the first entry in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. This series uses the limited third person POV, focusing on what the POV character for each chapter sees and only showing that character's thoughts. Of course, since it's still in a third-person POV, the narrator refers to the POV character by name, and has a more or less consistent voice throughout the entire series.

• The prologue is from the point of view of Will, a member of the Night's Watch, who encounters the Others on patrol beyond the Wall. Will's companions are killed, and he flees to warn the others.
• Next comes the scene in which Eddard "Ned" Stark executes Will for desertion, followed by his sons (sans Rickon) finding the direwolf pups. Neither of those characters offers their POV for the scene, but rather, Ned's young son Bran is the POV character. While Jon soon becomes a POV character, and Theon eventually follows suit, Bran's perspective is most useful. He, like the reader, learns about his father's personal code of honor as well as other matters, but also provides a little exposition about Jon's status as Ned's illegitimate son, something he's long known about.
• Once Ned returns home, the story switches to his wife, Catelyn's, perspective as they discuss recent events in the continent of Westeros, the concerns Ned is facing and King Robert's upcoming visit.
• The perspective then changes to that of the Targaryen princess Daenerys, far across the Narrow Sea on the continent of Essos. Since in the books, Daenerys has yet to meet any of the characters mentioned thus far (and never will meet some of them), it's only natural to switch to her perspective, or that of one of her followers of allies, when showing her quest to take back her family's throne.
• The story then returns to Winterfell for Eddard's POV, with him greeting his old friend King Robert, taking him to where Ned's sister Lyanna is buried and being formally invited to become Hand of the King. Ned could have been the POV character for all the previous scenes, but seeing the perspectives of other characters better fit the story. The scene hints at the two men's past when Robert rebelled against the king, as well as their relationship with the late Lyanna Stark- Ned's sister and Robert's one true love.

Each of these POV characters offers a unique perspective on events, including those witnessed by other significant characters with their own POV chapters. The events that they share with the viewer all help to progress the story, such as establishing the setting, showing events that move the plot forward and providing other information that readers need to know. 

My Next Life As A Villainess

Now let's examine My Next Life as a Villainess's first volume. The story begins with Katarina Claes, the protagonist, as the POV character, and the first section has the following events.

• Katarina recalls her previous life, in which she was died in a bike accident as a teenager. She then exposits on her current self, a spoiled brat and the daughter of Duke Claes.
• Katarina trips and falls while walking with Prince Jeord Stuart, which is the trigger that causes the memories of her previous life to return.
• Katarina awakens as a changed person, and tries to reassure Jeord that he shouldn't blame himself for her accident. She unwittingly agrees to marry Jeord, whose proposal was ostensibly to take responsibility for scarring her forehead.
• Katarina's maid Anne congratulates Katarina on her engagement. Katarina's shocked to learn what happened.
• Katarina, after much thought, realizes that Jeord is a character in her past self's favorite otome game, Fortune Lover, and that she is the villainess.
• Katarina then begins thinking of ways to avoid her "doom."
• While Katarina is busy gardening, Jeord returns and formally proposes to Katarina, who accepts.

Now Jeord's perspective. Bolded scenes also happen in Katarina's account of the events. Bolded text covers events that were also shown from Katarina's POV. Italicized passages are more or less the same, but don't repeat the dialogue.

• Jeord introduces himself and gives exposition about his extremely talented yet cynical nature. He also mentions that he doesn't like Katarina.
• Katarina trips and falls while walking with Prince Jeord, which is the trigger that causes her memories to return, although Jeord doesn't notice this.
• Some of the servants suggest that Katarina could use the scar to guilt-trip Jeord into marrying her. Jeord believes it would be most convenient for him if he accepted.
• Katarina awakens, and tries to reassure Jeord that he shouldn't blame himself for her accident. She unwittingly agrees to marry Jeord, whose proposal was ostensibly to take responsibility for scarring her forehead.
• While Katarina is busy gardening, Jeord returns and formally proposes to Katarina, who accepts.

So far, there isn't too much of an overlap between Katarina and Jeord's POV sections. Part of the reason was that they'd only just met when Katarina had her accident, and another part is that some of the story involves Katarina trying to figure out what is going on by herself (meaning that part of it literally takes place inside her head). That said, there was no good reason to show either proposal scene twice, since Jeord's perspective only clarifies his intentions in those scenes.

Let's look at the part of the story in which Katarina meets Keith.

• Katarina hears that since she'll be marrying into the House of Stuart, the Claes family will no longer have an heir, so they'll have to adopt Keith, a distant relative. Katarina realizes that Keith is another capture target in Fortune Lover, and decides to treat him well.
• Katarina meets Keith and insists that he call her "Big Sister."
• Katarina shows Keith around her garden and climbs a tree, only to fall on him.
• Katarina hears her mother, Milidiana, confront Katarina's father, Luigi, about Keith supposedly being Luigi's illegitimate son. The misunderstanding is cleared up and the two rekindle their relationship.
• A few weeks later, Katarina asks Keith to show her his magic. Her reckless behavior results in his Earth Golem injuring her.
• When Katarina comes to, Luigi tells her about Keith accidentally injuring some of his siblings with his magic.
• Katarina goes to apologize to Keith, only to find that he's locked himself in the closet. When all else fails, she breaks down the door with an axe.
• Katarina's behavior earns her a scolding from Milidiana.

Now for Keith's POV. Again, bolded dialogue is for parts that have dialogue that is recycled verbatim, while italics are for scenes that also happened from Katarina's perspective

• Keith recalls his childhood as an unwanted illegitimate child of one of Luigi's relatives.
• Keith recalls the incident in which his brothers threw stones at a bird's nest, resulting in him accidentally injuring them with his magic.
• Keith recalls coming to Luigi's household.
• Katarina meets Keith and insists that he call her "Big Sister."
• Katarina shows Keith around her garden and climbs a tree, only to fall on him.
• Keith mentions in passing the conversation between Luigi and Milidiana.
• A few weeks later, Katarina asks Keith to show her his magic. Her reckless behavior results in his Earth Golem injuring her.
• Keith apologizes to Luigi while Katarina is still unconscious.
• Katarina goes to apologize to Keith, only to find that he's locked himself in the closet. When all else fails, she breaks down the door with an axe.

As you can see, since Keith spends a great deal of time with Katarina after being adopted, there is far more overlap between their parts of the story. Keith's POV segments help share his perspective and feelings, which Katarina doesn't pick up on, but since most readers aren't nearly as dense as Katarina is, it's relatively easy to guess what's on his mind by listening to him. Those scenes also share certain details of his backstory, but given that there are chances for Katarina to learn of it through other means, such as her father telling her about the time Keith injured some of his adoptive siblings, his POV scenes shouldn't be the only way of delivering exposition about his past.

While the anime adaptation, like other light novel adaptations, omits a large amount of information that provides explanation and context, its narrative is far smoother overall.  For example, in Episode 6, Katarina visits Maria's hometown and learns about Maria's unhappy childhood as the viewer does. Maria's mother has a brief flashback recalling how she'd distanced herself from her daughter over time, instead of recapping Katarina's entire visit from her POV.  Other scenes show rather than tell; as Alan repeatedly challenges Katarina, you can gradually see him start to smile as he greets her, showing that he enjoys spending time with her even if he won't openly admit it. Perhaps the other characters' POV segments could be omitted, and Katarina could learn of their backstories through other means.

It's natural for the anime adaptation to do things differently from the light novels, owing to its status as a medium that includes visual and audio elements. Even so, I believe that the light novels could have used the written word better, and found ways to share other characters' perspectives without going into redundant exposition that bogs down the story while adding little.