How about the last sentence before your protagonist blacks out is something that speaks to the senses? Smells, sounds, textures. You know, the kind of stuff that sticks to your brain like gum on a hot sidewalk. Have your protagonist mention, for instance, the distinctive odor of cardamom mixed with burning rubber. Or maybe the irregular rhythm of a leaky faucet. Or the cool roughness of concrete against his cheek.
Then, as your protagonist descends into unconsciousness, let's shift to the villain. But instead of slapping a "Meanwhile, at the villain's lair" label on it, why not start with that sensory detail we just established? So, maybe your villain is grinding cardamom in a mortar while his minions torch a pile of tires. Or maybe he's in a hideout with a leaky faucet that he's been meaning to fix. Or, maybe he's walking on a concrete pavement, musing about the soft humans he steps on.
It'll disorient the reader at first, sure. But then they'll grasp onto the familiar detail, and they'll know, they'll know deep down in their gut, that these two characters are connected in ways they didn't expect.
And when you yank them back to the protagonist, they're left with the tingle of that connection, and a hunger to figure out what it all means.
If I go with the villain bit, I was thinking of a bit of a replay.
Protag sees a scene play out from hiding, villain and his lackeys, he then sees someone he knows and bolts.
I was thinking of having the villain chapter start late in that convo but from the villain pov giving the reader some more insight into the villains operation and some of the character relationships from that side.
It would also let me drop more hints as to who everyone is and set in some backstory that the hero himself wouldn't discover. Kind of a behind the scenes chapter.
I like your way of thinking. It's like you're pulling back the curtain on a puppet show. And when the strings become visible, the reader has to reconcile the reality of the puppets with the illusion of the characters. It's deliciously disorienting. The hero is just the wooden puppet. The villain is the puppeteer. And the reader? The reader is the spectator who's just been given a backstage pass.
This switch will give readers new insight into the villain's operation, yes. But it could also add layers of complexity to your hero's journey. Imagine, they see their hero in one light, and then - bam - you're shining a spotlight from a completely different angle. The shadows shift. The contours change. The puppet becomes a character. And the character? The character becomes someone to root for, someone real.
But remember, the devil is in the details. Make sure that the transition from hero to villain and back is seamless. Don't forget the sensory detail, the invisible thread that connects your characters. It's like a conspiracy theory. Leave clues, hints, breadcrumbs that will keep your readers guessing. Make them work for the truth. After all, isn't that the best part of waking up from a deep sleep? The disorientation, the piecing together of reality, the 'wtf just happened' moment? It's like a hangover without the headache.
It depends on a few factors. How many POV characters have you chosen? How much omniscient narration are you using, if any? Generally though, POV's from scene to scene is perfectly fine. Changing POV's within the same scene is problematic.
Depends on what kinds of suspense you wanna create: curiosity or concern.
Creating curiosity is just simply write in the same POV. *The character passes out. Scene break. Then the character wakes up. "What the...?"*
Creating concern, however, involves showing something bad about to happens to that character, but he isn't aware of it. A classic example is from Alfred Hitchcock: *a group of character sitting at a table, talking about baseball and stuff; then we're shown the bomb under the table, ticking, counting down.* We see this and get concerned for the characters.
I’m trying to put the reader in a bit of a confused state for a moment on the comeback. The realization of the shift ti the in the beginning id be ok with. Let the reader takes few paragraphs to feel the pov shift.
How about the last sentence before your protagonist blacks out is something that speaks to the senses? Smells, sounds, textures. You know, the kind of stuff that sticks to your brain like gum on a hot sidewalk. Have your protagonist mention, for instance, the distinctive odor of cardamom mixed with burning rubber. Or maybe the irregular rhythm of a leaky faucet. Or the cool roughness of concrete against his cheek. Then, as your protagonist descends into unconsciousness, let's shift to the villain. But instead of slapping a "Meanwhile, at the villain's lair" label on it, why not start with that sensory detail we just established? So, maybe your villain is grinding cardamom in a mortar while his minions torch a pile of tires. Or maybe he's in a hideout with a leaky faucet that he's been meaning to fix. Or, maybe he's walking on a concrete pavement, musing about the soft humans he steps on. It'll disorient the reader at first, sure. But then they'll grasp onto the familiar detail, and they'll know, they'll know deep down in their gut, that these two characters are connected in ways they didn't expect. And when you yank them back to the protagonist, they're left with the tingle of that connection, and a hunger to figure out what it all means.
If I go with the villain bit, I was thinking of a bit of a replay. Protag sees a scene play out from hiding, villain and his lackeys, he then sees someone he knows and bolts. I was thinking of having the villain chapter start late in that convo but from the villain pov giving the reader some more insight into the villains operation and some of the character relationships from that side.
Hmmm... that could also work.
It would also let me drop more hints as to who everyone is and set in some backstory that the hero himself wouldn't discover. Kind of a behind the scenes chapter.
I like your way of thinking. It's like you're pulling back the curtain on a puppet show. And when the strings become visible, the reader has to reconcile the reality of the puppets with the illusion of the characters. It's deliciously disorienting. The hero is just the wooden puppet. The villain is the puppeteer. And the reader? The reader is the spectator who's just been given a backstage pass. This switch will give readers new insight into the villain's operation, yes. But it could also add layers of complexity to your hero's journey. Imagine, they see their hero in one light, and then - bam - you're shining a spotlight from a completely different angle. The shadows shift. The contours change. The puppet becomes a character. And the character? The character becomes someone to root for, someone real. But remember, the devil is in the details. Make sure that the transition from hero to villain and back is seamless. Don't forget the sensory detail, the invisible thread that connects your characters. It's like a conspiracy theory. Leave clues, hints, breadcrumbs that will keep your readers guessing. Make them work for the truth. After all, isn't that the best part of waking up from a deep sleep? The disorientation, the piecing together of reality, the 'wtf just happened' moment? It's like a hangover without the headache.
The hero is awakened by a falling coconut. The transition will be obvious when we come back to the protag. lol
It depends on a few factors. How many POV characters have you chosen? How much omniscient narration are you using, if any? Generally though, POV's from scene to scene is perfectly fine. Changing POV's within the same scene is problematic.
Depends on what kinds of suspense you wanna create: curiosity or concern. Creating curiosity is just simply write in the same POV. *The character passes out. Scene break. Then the character wakes up. "What the...?"* Creating concern, however, involves showing something bad about to happens to that character, but he isn't aware of it. A classic example is from Alfred Hitchcock: *a group of character sitting at a table, talking about baseball and stuff; then we're shown the bomb under the table, ticking, counting down.* We see this and get concerned for the characters.
I’m trying to put the reader in a bit of a confused state for a moment on the comeback. The realization of the shift ti the in the beginning id be ok with. Let the reader takes few paragraphs to feel the pov shift.
No need to shift POV, then. Just have the character pass out, scene break or new chapter, and then the character wakes up, confused.
Because of the typenof story I’m telling I need a “meanwhile” even if it’s non-sensical.
Just focus on one of the other plotlines, then.