Writing from Multiple Points of View: An Interview With Rachel Stone, Author of THE BLUE IRIS

This past fall I read Rachel Stone’s debut novel, The Blue Iris. As a writing coach, one of the things that captured my interest was the fact that the book was written from multiple points of view—nine, to be exact. It’s not unheard of to do this (Lincoln in the Bardo fan here), but it’s a less common approach to storytelling. Partly because it creates challenges for the writer and, potentially, for the reader.

But a large cast also offers opportunities, and that’s what I wanted to explore. I reached out to see if Rachel would talk to me about how in the heck she pulled this off. She graciously agreed to answer my questions, and there’s some gold here about querying, tenacity, and the work she put in to make sure that writing from multiple points of view actually worked.

I’m going to paste in the complete back cover copy/sales copy for The Blue Iris because I think it’s relevant to my conversation with Rachel, especially when we get into how she pitched this kind of novel—

Tessa Lewis is set to embark on a Big-Time Career and marry Toronto’s fastest-rising lawyer, who loves her to pieces. But when a visit to a flower market from her childhood sparks memories of the mother she lost too soon, Tessa puts her bright future on hold to work there, determined to come to terms with her past.

At the Blue Iris Flower Market, everything is blossoming except the rag-tag crew, each hiding deep scars of their own. When Sam, the beloved but troubled man in charge, takes off and leaves the market reeling, Tessa and her unlikely new friends come face-to-face with their most uncomfortable truths, uprooting lives carefully cultivated-and just maybe, unearthing everything they’ve ever wanted.

Told from multiple perspectives, The Blue Iris is an intricately woven exploration of love tested beyond its limits, chosen family, and the beauty that grows in letting go.

[Kim Lozano] Rachel, I was so impressed with your decision to write a book from nine points of view. How early in the drafting process did you decide that this story would be told through the perspectives of many characters?

[Rachel Stone] It happened rather by accident, to tell you the truth. I set out to write Tessa’s book and while the secondary characters were all there from the start, I didn’t expect them to come through so vividly. Reading back the first draft, it was clear they were stealing the show, or at least demanding that Tessa shove over and share some of that spotlight. My editor pointed out that the bones of their struggles and arcs were there, they just needed fleshing out—and if I could do that effectively, they’d make each other’s more compelling.

So I set out to do that, exploring these secondary characters as if they were main protagonists, so that I could figure out how much page time (if any) was needed to do each of them justice. I found it much easier to get deep inside their heads when I wrote from their points of view, and then I thought, well, maybe the effect on the reader will be the same. Suddenly I had an ensemble on my hands!

Was there ever a voice in your head telling you not to do it? Telling you that readers might get confused or that their preference would be to attach to one main character? Just wondering if you had doubts about it.

Oh gosh, it was the doubt of all doubts, plaguing me the whole way!

Once I came to the understanding that the heart of the book was the ensemble aspect, I couldn’t unsee it. Fully developing each one left me very invested and attached to all of them. By the time I’d completed the (hugely extensive) rewrite to get everyone’s arcs woven in, I believed in it more than ever. But when I turned my focus to pitching it, the multi-POV aspect was the dealbreaker. The reaction (when I got one) was always, “Wait, how many points of view?” Cue the end of the conversation.

This feeling of dread crept in like, oh no, I’ve broken all the rules—and not in a good way. A couple of agents indicated interest if I rewrote it as a singular POV, focusing on Tessa’s story alone. A couple more said I should at least cut it down to three or four POVs. And I was tempted. I’d invested a couple of years already. I had a growing pile of rejections and a pretty desperate need for validation that I had any business trying to call myself a writer.

My developmental editor had predicted this exact situation. She said The Blue Iris would be a much harder sell as an ensemble piece because on a quick glance of a query letter/synopsis, it would be dismissed as too busy, that this is Tessa’s story, and having the others in there are just going to confuse the reader. And her next words, I burned them into my mind: “And that would be a mistake.”

The idea of cutting all or even some of the POVs felt like a betrayal—of the characters, the manuscript as a whole, and myself. But at the same time I’m thinking, what good does that do if it’s doomed to live in your drawer forever?

And then the doubts doubled down. Was the manuscript doomed for having that many POVs period, or had I just not executed it properly? Then I found The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley, and We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange came out. I was so relieved to know it was being done,  but that made me worry even more about all the things you mentioned—was it confusing, had I jammed too much in, was I asking too much of the reader? I questioned every single thing to do with the execution.

My editor was no longer available so I went to a new one, the goal being to make sure the pages worked. There were some changes, but on the whole, she assured me it did. I put it through some beta reads. Still, it just kept getting rejections. I got a third editor to look at the first 40 pages, to be really sure, then spent probably another year tinkering with the query package. Trying to find a way to present this that wouldn’t scare people off.

One industry person said, “The trouble is, what you’re suggesting you’ve done here is incredibly hard to pull off. And as a debut author…” And so I was still always doubting whether I’d stuck the landing, even after I had a publishing contract. Even after it was sent to print! There was just so much pushback on that aspect all along that I couldn’t shake it.

I’m grateful beyond words for every kind word about this book, but when I hear from readers that they enjoyed the multi-POV aspect specifically, or that it’s actually what they enjoyed most about it—I really can’t explain what that means.  

You mentioned the query package and how you needed to present the ensemble cast in a way that wouldn’t scare people off. Can you tell us briefly how you approached that? Any advice for other writers who are also pitching a book with a larger number of point-of-view characters?

The query letter and synopsis proved beyond frustrating. A large cast leaves no room to introduce everyone individually, but referencing the ensemble as a whole leaves it too general. I tried naming 2 or 3 characters, then went back to focusing mainly on Tessa and her stakes while making it clear there were other arcs tied in. The synopsis ended up being character-focused, with a line or two on each character and then a general “stage-setting” on how they tied together.

More POVs means more room for trial and error, so it’s a lot of tweaking and revamping. I’d advise authors to test in small batches so you don’t burn through your list (like I did). Address the POV elephant in the room head-on, and be confident about it. The first Game of Thrones had nine POV characters; do not let anyone tell you it can’t be done. In hindsight, 150-plus queries over three years later, I wish I’d built more of that confidence into my pitch, acknowledging the concerns I was being met with but also the steps I’d taken to address such. Something along the lines of Yes, I’m aware this structure is ambitious and incredibly easy to get wrong, but also, I’ve gone to great lengths to get it right. I’ve done the work.

Practically, I wonder how you kept the wires straight. I mean, talk about the potential for a plotting mess. How did you manage it all? A detailed outline? A software solution? Color-coded sticky notes?

I adore colored sticky notes and wish I could say I managed to get as organized as that! Truth be told, at the outset I was just following a writing prompt, not at all confident it would lead anyplace. So I didn’t have much in the way of a system or process yet (unless you count figuring it out as I went and then frantically circling back?).

I eventually started using OneNote to keep separate tabs for each character, but mostly it was a mess of scribbles in various notebooks and comments in all caps within the Word document itself. Which, given the multiple storylines in this book, does sound like a breeding ground for full-blown plotting disaster, I know.

I think my saving grace was how well I’d gotten to know the characters, because that made their subsequent movements feel logical and intuitive (and easier to keep straight by extension). Being at a point in my life where I could dedicate myself to the manuscript most days kept all the threads top-of-mind, which was a huge help in tying them together. I remember this feeling of panic whenever I had to step away, knowing all these pieces I was rather haphazardly holding together would start falling apart if I looked away for too long. Let’s just say my approach for Book two has been much more organized!

What guidance, warnings, or encouragement would you give to someone else thinking of writing a book with such a large ensemble cast? And will your next book also be told from many points of view?

It’s a bigger ask of the reader to invest in more POV characters, so that investment should pay off to a corresponding degree. By no means does every character need an equal number of chapters, but if they’re getting any at all, I believe it should be more than one. Whenever you find yourself popping into someone’s head only briefly, without the need to return again, you might consider whether you can deploy another tactic to get where you’re going that doesn’t burn through that precious “reader currency.” Every speaking role has to be rigorously earned.

Establish each character vividly and distinctly from go. Pay extra attention to how you transition between their sections, ensuring the reader isn’t fumbling to remember who’s who or where things left off with that character. Bear in mind books are rarely read in one sitting—the larger the ensemble, the more important it is to have cues that ground the reader in voice, time, and plot all the way through.

I find it effective to stick with one POV per chapter, keeping the chapters short. This ensures all the characters remain close at hand, never leaving any one arc for too long.

Finally, have fun with it! Multiple points of view allow you so much room creatively. When you think about it, perceptions are all we have. Play with those effectively and suddenly your words are pulling triple duty—driving character, tension, and plot all at once. Exploring different characters’ voices, seeing their perspectives take shape and how that impacts those around them is the most fascinating part for me, so my next book will definitely be told from multiple points of view!