Have you ever read a page and stumbled over who was speaking?
Whose head you’re in? Which he threw the first pounch? Thought the hero was standing in victory only to hear him speak from the ground.
That’s a POV – Point of View – trap.
To state right now, some writers can pull this POV movement smoothly. There’s no jarring or confusion. It’s as if the reader is walking – reading – through a party following thoughts. This is a style that needs to be maintained and not thrown in once or twice or to clarify something the main POV character couldn’t. Or to repeat via another’s thought…the reader already knows the information, make sure to add something new.
Each chapter or scene should stay within one character’s view point. If you need to move to someone else during the chapter’s plan, then use a scene change marker. Or as some other authors have successfully used…a new chapter per character. This works well when the character’s voice is distinct and continues the story forward. My advice here is to keep these character chapters to the minimum or you risk jumbling the story into chaos.
POV should give your reader the eyes in which to learn information that both entertains and informs them. Whether it’s the story’s narrative or a character’s voice the POV acts as the reader’s direction signals.
POV isn’t the character or narrative. Yes, some may disagree with me. But, let’s stop and look closer. POV is pretty open in meaning – a view coming from some specific point of origin. We see the story unfold as someone or the story (narrative) voice tells/shows us.
When constructing your story keep in mind whose eyes you are seeing through in any given scene or chapter. If you move to another be clear and precise.
The hardest part for any writer is separating what they know is happening, the backstory/off page story from what the reader will be reading and learning. This tends to muddle the POV…either giving too much or not enough. Or pronoun confusion during the scene…you know the POV so you know which he, is he, but the reader may not.
The term: omniscient point of view?
Isn’t this what I mentioned earlier…head hopping, walking through a party and the different thoughts? In a limited way and from what I’ve searched up, this is exactly what it’s called…Limited Omniscient POV.
A total Omniscient POV allows the writer to jump into any character’s head…whether human or animal or insect, if you’d like.
It will even allow the writer to break down the proverbial fourth wall and talk to the reader.
I would say that’s a pretty risky writing style in today’s market. Most reviews I’ve read seem to mention too much head-hopping, confusion on POV. It’s not that readers (or reviewers) have grown dumb over the years and can’t follow this style. Personally, and to be honest this entire post is my opinion, from everything I’m hearing and reading, readers want to escape outside voices when they read. They want to dive into a book and forget about everything going around outside the screen, a little difficult if the author starts talking to you or you need a scorecard to keep the characters’ voices straight.
The opposing view…readers like variety and are open to different styles and enjoy hearing other characters.
In the end, write the story as its and its characters want to tell it. Don’t write to please the unknown.
Care to experiment with different POV usages, go for it. Remember to be watchful that you don’t end up needing a voice scorecard.
Great post. One of my favorite topics.
Hi, Rosalie. Glad you came by. Thank you. Funny thing, I've just finished reading a book which did head-hop/POV switch and it worked, think I would missed the feel if it hadn't head-hopped