The
first time I submitted a story to a contest, the judge commented that I
head-hopped. I thought it was a compliment – I’m a good listener, I empathize
with people, really try to get into their heads and understand them. Ah, well,
turns out she wasn’t being complimentary. Head-hopping is switching from one
character’s point of view to another within one scene in a story. And it’s a
problem? Really? Surely readers are smart enough to know when I switch it up.
It seemed pretty clear to me. Haha.
It turns
out that (even if readers are smart enough to know) convention dictates that
you must write a scene from one character’s point of view. So how do you do
that?
The easiest
way to think of it is to imagine you have a camera on the character’s head and
you’re describing what is seen through the lens. If you can’t see it through
the camera, you can’t write it.
I
launched my first book with a party, and my brother-in-law, Paul, videoed it
for me. There was dancing (of course!). When I was up on the dance floor, I
listened to the song, interacted with the other dancers, waved to the crowd of
people sitting around inviting them to join us, and I was aware of people
watching. The video that Paul took had clips of us dancing, but he also
wandered around the room, taking footage of my family and friends that I
couldn’t see from the dance floor. At the end of the video, my sister turned
the camera on him, so there was a short clip of him, too. If I had described
the scene, my view of that moment would have been very different from his (and
I have to say – I loved that he captured the moment to include all of my
family!).
Link to
video http://youtu.be/1PcsSz5LNyE
It’s
okay to include the point of view of another character in the story (in fact,
it’s encouraged), but there has to be a shift in the scene or some marker or
break so that it’s very clear to the reader. The reader, it turns out, will
thank you!
Here’s a
story told from Mikaela and Sam’s point of views – Perfectly Honest, Book 1 in the Perfectly Series.
You never know where your
words will take you . . .
When Mikaela Finn agreed to
be Sam’s ‘fiancée’ for a weekend, she probably should have told him that she’s
a doctor.
Sam O’Brien, aka ‘Dr. Eye
Candy’, is trying to shed his playboy reputation and convince a small town
hospital that he’s ready to settle down.
But when his ‘fiancée’ helps deliver a baby in the middle of the meet
and greet, it’s a bit of a shock. If he’d known the whole truth, he might have
done things a little differently because somehow his ‘fiancée’ ends up stealing
his job and his heart. Not exactly the change he wanted.
Lies and deceit – it’s a
match made in heaven!
Buy Links
Barnes
and Noble Link http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/perfectly-honest-linda-oconnor/1121133809
Author Bio
Linda
O’Connor started writing a few years ago when she needed a creative outlet
other than subtly rearranging the displays at HomeSense. It turns out she loves
writing romantic comedies and has a few more stories to tell. When not writing,
she’s a physician at an Urgent Care Clinic (well, even when she is writing
she’s a physician, and it shows up in her stories :D
). She hangs out at www.lindaoconnor.net.
Laugh
every day. Love every minute.
Author Links
Website: http://www.lindaoconnor.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lindaoconnor98
Amazon
Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Linda-OConnor/e/B00S7CNLEA
2 comments:
iStealing his job??? Love it...Ths sounds great...
Hi Linda,
All new writers head hop. I know I did. Smile!
Your new story sounds interesting.
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