Big surprise, huh? All right, let me explain.

You love your characters. You love them so much that you get deep into a scene, are writing a particularly emotional moment, and your heroine is aching from the rejection of the man she loves. We’re seeing things through her eyes, feeling her pain, when the hero says something devastating, and then… we read this line:

“Clutching the locket, Julie bit the inside of her lip and turned away from Bryce. He frowned, confused by her reaction.”

I’ve already told you that we’re in Julie’s POV. So, what’s wrong with this scene?

“Clutching the locket, Julie bit the inside of her lip and turned away from Bryce. He frowned, confused by her reaction.”

The words highlighted in red show where the scene slips—if briefly—into the hero’s point-of-view. That’s where the problem lies: Julie can’t see certain things or know certain things in her POV, so we shouldn’t either.

This is commonly known as head-hopping. Sounds painful, right?

And it can be, especially for your reader. Imagine trying to keep track of knowing everything about multiple characters and seeing everything through multiple pairs of eyes throughout an entire novel, without changing scenes!

Oh, wait…

I hear you. You’re shouting things like “Tolstoy!” and “Binchy!” and “Roberts!” and even “Tolkien!” at me.

The fact of the matter is… you’re not them. In fact, 20+ years ago, omniscient POV was the common, nay, preferred POV. It was typical for books to give POV moments to characters such as the dog or a horse, and yes, it could get confusing (though it adds an interesting dimension to the storytelling).

Today’s authors who use omniscient POV are established writers who’ve practiced and perfected this in their craft. It’s very difficult to do, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a publisher (let alone an agent) willing to take a chance to an omniscient POV novel.

Once you’re published and have proven you’re capable of it, omniscient POV may be within your grasp. However, readers these days prefer deep third person (or first person), and until the trend comes around again, it’s your best bet to stick with this.

To change POVs the right way, wait for a scene break, then switch. But only then!

So, get out that red pen, and remember: You’re not Nora. But someday, you could be! So for now, make sure your reader isn’t seeing or knowing anything that isn’t apparent to your main character.

Do you head-hop like a bunny on speed? Sometimes I do it without even noticing, but I find it only happens with novels. This is one of those things I tend to be hyper-aware of… how about you?