Question: Head-hopping is a thing now?

 

There are so many mistakes a writer can make when looking at some of the books that have been published in the last five years. Some of the most basic tenets of writing are now being ignored.

One thing I learnt about recently was the concept of “head hopping”. I was seeing this in submission guidelines. NO head-hopping. Basically, no switching points of view. I also couldn't believe people were referring to instances where a writer had switched from first to third person in the middle of a sentence. This was unheard of before. I don't understand how a narrative could hold up or why you would publish a book that couldn't maintain consistency and continuity. Much like tense, be it past or present, you should pick one and stick to it. If I could include anything in a writer's guide it would be: do not to switch tenses in the same piece.

Changing points of view is totally fine provided you're very clear about whose head you're in at one time. George RR Martin makes use of character names as his chapter titles for the Song of Ice and Fire series, so you always know where you and are and whose eyes you're looking through. A friend mentioned another book where each chapter was the same scene from different perspectives of the characters involved, but she had to read the book again to realise this. She loved the book, but it still confused her. Other authors I admire, like Clive Barker and AM Homes, have the skills to seamlessly move between points of view within a scene without losing the thread. If done well, it's effective. If done poorly, you risk making a mess of your narrative.

Calling it “head-hopping” seemed to me to be a way of explaining to a novice a fundamental rule most experienced authors would already understand as “narrative points of view”. There's no crime in taking a writing course or joining a discussion group where you can learn the right tricks of the trade. I wouldn't stick to simply reading books to refine your craft.

Live to Tell is entirely from Stephen's perspective. The other characters weren't “speaking” to me and asking me to tell their stories. I gave Jacinta a voice through her diary entries. I felt we learnt much more from her from Stephen's perspective and the conversations they have, and I wanted to have an air of mystery around her so you would question her motives. Had you heard it in “her words”, it'd have given too much away.

My novel Into the Other has three main characters, and I made sure you hear their unique voices without interruption. If you're worried about how to tell a scene from two characters' points of view, write the scene out twice, and see which one works for you. The other character can always have their say in another chapter without you repeating the scene. Always try to avoid confusing your reader, because that's when you'll lose them.