Curious Tale Saturdays: Switching Narrative Points of View Mid-Scene, Part 3

[the_sinistral]

This week I’ll conclude my discussion of a custom that, in science fiction and fantasy, has come to possess the moral weight of a dictum:

Never change viewpoints mid-scene, and never ever blur the lines between characters’ points of view.
This notion is interesting because I almost completely disagree with it

Comments

[half_unseen]

I've been meaning to reply to this for ages, but haven't had time. My reply to this is that I think when it involves 99% of authors, you're wrong. Maybe there's an elite 1% who can pull it off, but I've never read a single narrative that involved POV swapping mid-scene that didn't end up looking sloppy, confusing, or incredibly bad. That's why I'd counsel people never do it. It feels like lazy writing in the hands of most (though maybe not all) writers. I'm of the opinion that the limited POV is far superior in building a consistent narrative, and almost required to build any serious tension or sense of anticipation.

But hey, that's just my not so humble old opinion. I'm no published author.