S35E1 - The Problem with Head-Hopping

There are a few red flags in writing that will cause nearly all readers to set down a book and never pick it up again. It can range from something as simple as bad grammar and punctuation, to problems with the characters.

One of the more common problems, especially among new authors, is a lack of consistency in who is telling the story. Changing the point-of-view character is common enough in fiction, especially in fantasy and sci-fi. However, there is a difference between this normal POV change and what is known as head-hopping. The latter means switching between character perspectives in a single scene, sometimes a single paragraph or sentence. This style of change causes confusion and a lack of continuity that frustrates readers into setting the book down.

We break down what head-hopping is, how to identify it, and how to fix it in this episode.

First aired September 1, 2022.