Is it just what I'm reading, or has the entire concept of writing a scene in one POV flown out the window?
I admit that in one or two scenes of mine, usually when couples are making love, I might switch point of view at the end, but I avoid going back and forth jumping inside heads. To me that's just lazy writing. If you don't have the skill to convey all you need to say while within one character's POV, maybe you should re-write the scene. The mistress of this skill was the late Dorothy Dunnett. She wrote her classic Lymond Chronicles, six books, never showing anything from the hero's POV except for one sentence when the hero realizes he's in love with the heroine.
That's it. Everything you know about Francis Lymond is from other people's impressions of him, yet if you ask any fan he or she tell you that Lymond is one of the most fully fleshed out characters in modern lit. And a great romantic hero.
There's an exception to every rule, of course. If I was Nora Roberts I might be able to get away with head hopping, but let's face it, most of us aren't La Nora. In fact, no one is, except Ms. Roberts.
So the rest of you? Work harder at keeping it all together in one scene. I know as a reader I'll be appreciative of the effort you put into the writing.
I admit that in one or two scenes of mine, usually when couples are making love, I might switch point of view at the end, but I avoid going back and forth jumping inside heads. To me that's just lazy writing. If you don't have the skill to convey all you need to say while within one character's POV, maybe you should re-write the scene. The mistress of this skill was the late Dorothy Dunnett. She wrote her classic Lymond Chronicles, six books, never showing anything from the hero's POV except for one sentence when the hero realizes he's in love with the heroine.
That's it. Everything you know about Francis Lymond is from other people's impressions of him, yet if you ask any fan he or she tell you that Lymond is one of the most fully fleshed out characters in modern lit. And a great romantic hero.
There's an exception to every rule, of course. If I was Nora Roberts I might be able to get away with head hopping, but let's face it, most of us aren't La Nora. In fact, no one is, except Ms. Roberts.
So the rest of you? Work harder at keeping it all together in one scene. I know as a reader I'll be appreciative of the effort you put into the writing.
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