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How Fiction Works Writing Meme -- Day Four
4 - How do you feel about "head hopping", that is, narration flowing among different characters within one section or chapter of writing with no delineation? Some critics claim that this free flowing point of view is the mark of a poor author, while others say that this sort of free indirect style is difficult to master and the mark of a very good one. Where do you stand? Do you do it yourself? Do you enjoy reading it?
Honestly, I say as long as you mark your spots where you deviate, I think head-hopping is pretty good. If nothing else, it can give you some pretty useful insights, e.g. what a side character is thinking, what the villain's doing, etc. It can help build suspense because of what the protagonist doesn't know, and so on and so forth. If nothing else, it can also help when I'm, say, stuck in someone's head too long and want to get out (e.g. after I've written a really creepy scene involving one of my villains and think, "Right, I need something a bit lighter" -- let's say it happens more often than you think it does). As for reading it -- yeah, I enjoy reading it. Although I also enjoy the singular POV, so I think it's sort of "anything goes as long as you're interesting me". :)
( Rest of questions. )
Honestly, I say as long as you mark your spots where you deviate, I think head-hopping is pretty good. If nothing else, it can give you some pretty useful insights, e.g. what a side character is thinking, what the villain's doing, etc. It can help build suspense because of what the protagonist doesn't know, and so on and so forth. If nothing else, it can also help when I'm, say, stuck in someone's head too long and want to get out (e.g. after I've written a really creepy scene involving one of my villains and think, "Right, I need something a bit lighter" -- let's say it happens more often than you think it does). As for reading it -- yeah, I enjoy reading it. Although I also enjoy the singular POV, so I think it's sort of "anything goes as long as you're interesting me". :)
( Rest of questions. )
