Viewpoint Mistakes

Making a viewpoint mistake means you've yanked the reader out of her comfortable position without giving her something in return that's worth the disturbance you've caused. Sometimes you switch VP without knowing it, and sometimes you know you've done it but don't realize how much trouble you've caused.

JUST REMEMBER that every time you change VP, you disturb the reader. In effect, you have put her in place and are showing her something when suddenly you grab her by the shoulders & spin her around to look at something else. Of course she's annoyed. Wouldn't you be?

The VP change is not so jarring when it occurs at the end of a scene. Your reader is not expecting to be moved in another VP, but at least she's expecting something different. Even within a scene, you should allow a passage of time or a change of venue if you absolutely have to switch POV and can't end your chapter with one POV and start another POV at just that point. Here's a trick I use. Say I'm in a scene with my hero and heroine, and I start the scene in the hero's POV. I did this in When Somebody Wants You. It was the prelude to the love scene, and my hero, Dev, comes to my heroine's apartment. He sees Elise, the heroine, and we know what he's thinking and feeling. The conversation begins. All from his POV. Then, Elise gets up to go into the kitchen. This part of the scene ends with a thought of Dev's as she leaves. There is a scene break, denoted by a pound sign, the sign that tells the typesetter to put a space there. Then, from Elise's POV, she reenters the room. The reader knows time has passed because Elise comes in with a laden tray. This is kind of cheating, because we haven't really changed the scene, but technically, we have.

But when the VP change comes at the start of a new chapter, there is even less disturbance, because the reader believes she has seen all there is to see from her particular angle, so she is ready to look elsewhere.

VIEWPOINT RULE #1 - Never change viewpoints when you don't have to.

VIEWPOINT RULE #2 - If you change VP make sure you reward the reader for her troubles, with an exciting new scene or chapter, or some compelling new information. This, incidentally, applies to every aspect of your writing. Never disturb the reader without giving something in return. There must always be a payoff.

(Patricia Kay)