HEAD-HOPPING

THE AGENT sent me an e-mail one day. He’d been reading one of my novels and liked the premise. However, he found something that he said, “needed to be fixed right-away.” He told me I needed to have only one POV (point of view) per scene. Or in other words, quit with the head-hopping!

I looked at my novel with a different eye. Such a simple little thought. Why hadn’t I noticed how bad it was? I was all over the place, hopping between the hero and heroine’s thoughts. No one had ever pointed this out to me. Why? Because they didn’t notice it. I believe this is why it is important to have someone knowledgeable about writing read your work with a critical eye. They will notice things that your average reader will not.

Lesson: One point of view per scene. If you switch to another character’s perspective, double-space, (or add ***) and start a new paragraph.

I had to go back and fix this problem in two of my early novels. In those two first novels, I didn’t really know what I was doing. IN all honesty, I was simply having fun—writing for my own enjoyment. I love the plots of these two books, but I had to do extensive revisions in both of them before they were ever ready to see the light of day.

However, it sure was fun to write to my heart’s content with no thought as to publication. Ignorance really was bliss. Those were happy, carefree days, typing away, and filling the pages with my imagination.

My biggest fear had come to fruition with this experience, though. I was revealed as the novice that I really am. I live in fear of someone discovering that I’m not really a writer. I’m really just a stay-at-home Mom with an active imagination and a great computer. Even now, I have a hard time calling myself a . . . writer. Gulp. I’m a fraud.

But, I love writing stories. And I LOVE when other people love them too. It’s such a thrill. There’s nothing like it in the world.

So, I’m a writer.

Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net