By:
Linda S. Clare
Fiction
writers tend to struggle in writing a character’s thoughts. Sometimes it’s a
matter of understanding Point of View (POV). Other times, how to express one
character’s thoughts is what stumps writers. Either way, inner thought is a
valuable tool to deepen character and pull readers into the story.
By adhering
to some “rules,” readers can better understand what you’re trying to convey.
Writing
Tip for Today: The
following guidelines should help you correctly express your POV Character’s
thoughts.
NO
HEAD HOPPING
Head
hopping refers to the practice of allowing readers to know the thoughts of more
than one character on stage at any one time. Many nineteenth century novels
used an omniscient POV, meaning readers could enter the minds of any or all characters.
Thus, a man and a woman attracted to one another might feature both the hero’s
thoughts (her eyes were the most fascinating shade of green) and the heroine’s
thoughts (Why was he staring at her like that?). Yet most modern novels limit
viewpoint to one character at a time.
The reason for this is that today’s
readers want to be intimately connected with the fictional character. The more
characters’ thoughts readers are privy to, the shallower this connection. By
limiting POV to one character per scene or chapter, readers are forced to come
closer to the character.
This closeness helps readers commit to the story. To
avoid Head Hopping, imagine the POV Character is you as you write. You cannot
know my thoughts if I come into the room–you only know your own thoughts. Keep
your characters as they would be in real life.
DEEP
POV BRINGS READERS CLOSER
. . .
Read the full article HERE!
~*~
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