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Back to Articles Page Ping-pong match or personal style? I asked the friend about it and she said to me that it made the story better, being able to see and hear what the other characters are feeling. I disagreed and went on a mission to find the truth. To begin my fact-finding journey, I polled the members of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) PRO loop. This is an internet writing discussion group, and we've all submitted to agents and/or publishers, but haven't met the guidelines to become full-fledged highly paid authors in the eyes of RWA yet. We are considered professionals, so I figured, who better to ask? Like I'd assumed, I got many different answers to this, with no consistent consensus. However, I received fantastic reasons why they believe as they do. I also must include that this seems to be a very hot question, and from the replies that I got, writers are adamant about what they believe. The Survey and Results: I had 23 respondents give me their answers to the following questions. A summary of the answers are below the question. There are four columns for each answer:
Question 1: Do you write POV changes within your story, or do you stay with one character throughout?
Question 2: How often and when do you write POV changes? For example, do you do it every paragraph or every scene change?
Question 3: How do you indicate POV changes? For example, some people use a blank line, some use a pound mark, etc.?
(What is a transition or transitioning? Some respondents talked about transitioning elements of some type, as in three actions between deep points of view (PsOV) or using dialogue or description, distracting the reader. It's all very slick and I wonder if the reader would notice? However, I'm sure an editor or contest judge would notice. For new writers, it sounds easy to mess up, so I'd advise against it unless you know what you're doing and your publisher agrees.) Question 4: What is your definition of head hopping?
Question 5: Why do you believe as you do? For example, have you heard it or read it somewhere?
Question 6: Are you published in any way?
Question 7: How long have you been writing?
Question 8: How many books or stories (at least 40,000 words) have you written?
I also asked for other comments, some of which I'll summarize below.
Why should a writer care? Head hopping abruptly takes the reader out of one person's head and directs the POV to someone else. It seems that head hopping never bothered the respondents until they became writers. So, if readers don't care, why should we? In today's day and age, the writer is expected to make the reader feel like they're in the story--it's the old show versus tell scenario. The closer the reader is to the action, the more the reader will want to continue with the story. Thus, the invention of deep POV, or the character actually sharing how he or she is feeling, either physically or emotionally. If the reader is taken out of that connection, they won't care and will throw the book out the window. They expect that connection. If done right, the reader won't even know they, themselves, are being taken on the same journey as the character. So when is it head hopping and when is it considered to be allowed? When does the reader get frustrated and decide that there are other books on the shelves that are better? Think of this scenario. A man and a woman are investigating a barn that's said to be occupied by ghosts. They get separated. You're in the man's head and he hears a noise in the back corner of the barn. He looks, and the writer switches over to the woman's head. She's outside and hears nothing, but sees a goat prancing around the yard. What happened to the man? The writer has jarred the reader from one head to another, and never tells the reader what happened with the noise in the back corner. As a reader, I'm angry, and will skim whatever's happening to the woman to find out if the man's living or dying. I'm not permitted to stay with one character and bond with that person in their time of need. I've been jarred from one character's journey to another. In this case, it was in the middle of action, which can be construed as either suspense or head hopping. Since I, as a reader, skipped parts of the book, it would be head hopping to me. And if the writer then skips back and forth between the two characters (blatant head hopping), I'm really going to be angry, because I've lost my train of thought with that man. 'Television can do it…why can't a writer?' Television can get away with such scene cuts, because it's a linear medium and the POV is more omniscient. You watch how each person behaves and the camera's usually not attached to someone's head. You don't hear things they're thinking, either, unless stated aloud in some way. Television can show the character without having to tell the viewer anything. The viewer doesn't have to have that connection with any one character, because they themselves are there, watching the story unfold. But a writer has to describe everything. If omniscience is considered to be too distant these days for the reader, how else can a writer tell the story? Easy -- by becoming one of the characters themselves, putting the reader into the story and into one character's head. Also, a person can't just skip over text like they can in a book and go to find out what they want by watching it on TV, then jump back to see what really happened, unless the thing's on tape, which is just a pain to do. Television programs can also interject something that no character can know, because of the ability to be omniscient. For example, the characters are in a house, but little did they know, the murderer was standing outside the house, smoking a cigarette. Only the writer knows that in a book. The characters can't see the murderer or they'd call the cops and ruin the plot. It ratchets up tension for the viewer on television, and since the viewer is watching the show unfold instead of being in the head of a character, they can see everything (they're omniscient). Since books are written differently than television (not usually omniscient), it's the responsibility of the writer to make sure the reader knows which POV is being used. Otherwise, the reader can get confused and will more than likely not continue reading the book. If it's written in an omniscient voice, they don't get that intimate bond with the character, which is every author's goal. Writers have to be careful about the POV for the character in question as well. I've read some stories (both published and unpublished) where the writer puts the reader into the head of an animal. How that's even possible is beyond me, but I've even seen it in published works on the store shelves and in manuscripts. 'But published authors do it…' What I read, more often than not, was that published authors get away with more than pre-pubbed authors. So, many times, you'll see blatant head hopping and multiple POV switches in odd places in published books, yet the unpubbed writer has a tough time getting published if they have the same type of switch in the book's point of view. Yes, it's not fair. But it's part of the game. Other research: When hunting for research on this topic, I saw both sides presented. For 'pro' head hopping, the authors made their points that it increases tension to see the action from all sides. For 'con' head hopping, the authors describe giving away too much to the reader to enjoy the entire story, jarring the reader by changing who's thinking what. If they have the whole story from all characters, there's not much of a story and considered to be a very weak plot line. Conclusion So, in conclusion, from everything I've learned, I believe it's wise to avoid head hopping. The character development is stronger with less change of POV, which makes for a better story and connection for the reader. Most editors and publishers will criticize head hopping and it's not something to put into contests, even though well-known published authors do it. It's difficult to edit out, as well. Why tempt the fates? Also, points of view should be consistent and obvious throughout a section, and a change should never break up the action. On another note, if the change in POV doesn't further the plot, I'd advise against that as well, because it just becomes filler. My Opinion (just don't flame me for it) As a reader, I don't want to have more than one point of view in my head at a time—it's too much work. To me, reading should be entertaining and not a memory quiz on what different characters are thinking. I want to see all action from one viewpoint, not hear every point of view in the story for every plot point. I care about the first POV I read (the main character, in my mind), and I pretty much skim the rest of the book to find out about that main character. I've seen books where there are subplots that have nothing to do with the main plot, and those are the parts I skim. If it doesn't drive the main plot, in my mind, it should be a separate book. Also, it seems to me that if you describe the same scene from two different points of view while head hopping, you're doubling up on plot, making it extremely boring and the plot very thin. I've already lived that part of the plot. Why are you putting me through it again? Do you have that weak of a plot that you have to show every character thinking how they felt? If you want to show what people are thinking, show it in mannerisms or dialogue from someone else's viewpoint. Otherwise, to me, it becomes a 'tell' and not fun to read because I've lost that intimacy with what's really going on. Losing an agent, a publisher or even one reader because of head hopping or the latest way to change POV isn't worth it to me. Until I'm published (at least), I'll stick with one POV per scene, per chapter or even per story. Here are the references I used about point of view and head hopping: Judifennell.com--POV article Writing-world.co--POV article Associatedcontent.com--POV article Eeknight.livejournal.com--POV article Floggingthequill.com--POV article Likesbooks.com--POV article Fierceromance.blogspot.com--POV article Back to Articles Page |
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