Swapping or switching POVs is a simple task- nothing very special about it. Yet, it is one of the most frequenly neglected areas- and trust me, this simple rule that I am about to share is one of the must-do things while writing a novel. Next time you pick up your stuff and settle down to write something wonderful, remember this website, this article and the very simple trick that I am going to teach.

I know that I have mentioned the rule Maintain a single POV character per scene- or per chapter in the article ‘Cardinal Rules on How to Establish the Right Point of View‘. There I have told that you shouldn’t switch POVs within a scene. Alright so you can switch POVs while changing scenes- but how do you do them.

Here I’m going to tell three points to take care of while switching POV within a chapter. 1. Warning: Speed Breaker Ahead 2.Show Them The Speed Breaker 3.Please Don’t Test my Patience!

1. Warning: Speed Breaker Ahead

Well, the reader is going on a fast lane while reading through your novel. Let’s say the scene involving Finnigan as the POV character is quite long. So the reader is now going at a high speed. When you switch the POV to Luigi’s then the situation be compared to that of a speedbreaker. So we must warn the reader that there is a speedbreaker ahead.

Warning that you going to switch to Luigi soon can be given by slowly turning the spotlight towards Luigi. Let’s see the first paragraph of the previous example:

“Finnigan was with rage, his teeth clenched and fists balled. ‘Go- get lost!,’ he uttered. There wasn’t mush of shouting work done. The next moment, an involuntary force made his hands thrust forwards, driving Luigi towards the door. The latter merely scurried away from his push.”

Attention is being diverted to Luigi. That’s the first thing to be done- but it’s not always possible. In that case I guess you can’t do anything but to forget about warning your reader.

2.Show them the Speed Breaker:

How to show them? Simple enough- Create one and show. Use seperators to show the switching of character. Well, in case you don’t know, a seperator is: ‘***’ or ‘*****’. That’s it- it’s that simple.

“Finnigan was with rage, his teeth clenched and fists balled. ‘Go- get lost!,’ he uttered. There wasn’t mush of shouting work done. The next moment, an involuntary force made his hands thrust forwards, driving Luigi towards the door. The latter merely scurried away from his push.
*****
Luigi sniggered as he opened the door to let himself out. The news seemed to have a hard impact on the lawyer’s mind; yet he couldn’t hide his surprise at Finn’s reaction. A guy like Finn would have at least pulled out his gun without thinking much- he had expected more action, not a drab delirium. He heard an broken cry behind the door, before it clicked shut.”
See? It’s that simple to show that there is a POV switch!

3.Please Don’t Test my Patience!

Sure- don’t test the reader’s patience by making a fuss about the suspense. Just as the new scene pops in- let your POV character pop in as fast as possible. Because once the reader had slowed down next to a speed breadker, and now he/she needs to pick up the speed.

Switching from one POV to another without a jolt is one of the points where the experienced reader gets an idea of the standard of the author. Also during the publisher’s scrutiny, amateur writers are exposed in this way. There will be an irresistable temptation to step out of your POV character. Just resist that temptation and you’ll find your story getting toned up overall.

I hope this article really help you out. Don’t forget to express your opinions and suggestions.

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