Who's talking

I'm reading a young adult novel right now which is written in four viewpoints.  Each chapter is headed with the name of the viewpoint character, but for some reason I'm finding it difficult to remember who they are, and where they are.  It doesn't help that this is the second book in the series and it's a year since I read the first.

I started to wonder why, and I think it's because all four viewpoints are written in the first person, present tense.  That's quite fashionable for young adult right now, but when there are four "I" characters I think it's less successful.  Each character is in a different location, and what I'm getting is four fractured narratives that will come together at the end, but are confusing the hell out of me right now.  

Because I like the concept of the book, and because I loved book one, I'll persevere and read on to the end.  But if I'd been confused like this in the first book I probably wouldn't.  There's nothing wrong with using multiple viewpoints in a book, but it has to be clear to the reader what's going on.

In the Panthera books I solved this by introducing each character for the first time.  I put their name and location at the top of the chapter where the reader first hears their viewpoint.  Then in subsequent chapters I made sure I started with the character's name in the first line to make clear whose viewpoint it was.  I do have one first person present tense character, but as there's only one it's not difficult for the reader to realise Panthera's talking every time they come to a first person chapter.

Panthera : Death Spiral has four viewpoints, Panthera : Death Song five, and Panthera : Death Plain four again.  Each viewpoint is in a self-contained chapter, and there are no changes of viewpoint within chapters.  The narrative weaves like a woven braid between the different viewpoints, but because I've been consistent in telling the reader who's speaking right at the start off he chapter and not changing viewpoint mid-chapter, the pattern is consistent.  The reader soon learns the pattern and becomes comfortable with it.

Keep your approach to viewpoint consistent and it's possible to weave the most complicated of tales and still keep the reader on board.