INTRODUCING A NEW POV

Question:

I want to introduce a new POV into my story. This is necessary because I want to show what she's going through to the reader since she's strongly tied to the protagonist's motive. I'm introducing her late in the second act. Her death ushers in the third act. But I want to know if readers would not be put off by another POV late in the story.

P.S: My novel is written in third person from three MCs POV. She would be the fourth.

Answer:

There is no technical reason why you cannot introduce a new POV character at that stage, especially if there has been some mystery or curiosity about the character created earlier in the story.

I'm going to infer that there is a chain of events that involves this character and that it's important for the reader to understand at some point the significance of these events, since "she's strongly tied to the protagonist's motive." Moreover, I'm guessing you want to create some mystery by hiding the events in that chain for the first part of the story. Their effects may be felt, but the causes of those effects are hidden, because the action is happening "off-page." Consequently, the reader wonders why things are happening as they are.

Switching to that character's POV and revealing what has been happening behind the curtain at a point where it is important for the reader to understand makes perfect sense. There are certainly many stories in which someone dies and the hidden chain of events is revealed through a journal, letter, video, etc. from their POV.

However, regarding the issue of "would readers be put off by it," that depends entirely on how you tell your story. If the reveal makes the earlier events more meaningful, then most readers will react positively. Readers often like those moments where they look back on earlier events in the light of new information and think, "Oh, that makes so much more sense now. Why didn't I see it before?"

On the other hand, if the reveal invalidates earlier events and makes them less meaningful, that can be off-putting.

Best of luck,

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