Morgana asks: What's the best way to switch POV (point of view) between characters?

 

In general, I hate head-hopping or multiple POV's within a scene. That of course, is personal preference, but does tend to be the general consensus. Many reviews and articles show that readers don't like having to flip back a few pages to retrace the conversation. I myself have had to do this--even with some of the bestselling novels out there. It's annoying and takes away from the impact of the story and its momentum.

That does not mean to say that multiple POV's can't work. They can. But I think they must be handled delicately. First, there needs to be a real reason for using different POV's. What vital piece of info could you not get from the main POV'er? Is it necessary to know what every character thinks or sees? Some writers go overboard with POV.

Switching from first person to third can also be tricky, but there are easy ways to get around both of these situations. There are two choices that work best in keeping the pace of the story and keeping the reader focused.

1. Chapter breaks - use chapters to separate your POV's and have one POV per chapter. Example: in Chapter one, you might be in the main character's head; in Chapter 2, you may be in the killer's head. Use this also for switches between first and third person.

2. Scene breaks - either use a row of **** or a decorative detail or 2 empty spaces to switch between scenes. Think of it like filming a movie. Scene 1 in the kitchen is told from the victim's perspective; scene 2 in the driveway is told from the lurking killer's perspective.

I have used both of these and they work. I also have a novel, Divine Intervention, that has a few scenes told in first person from the perspective of the killer.

The idea is to make it easy for your reader's to follow the story. Sharpen that skill and you'll be off and running! :)