Writing Tips & Wattpad Tricks

Tip #23: Head-Hopping vs. Writing Omnisciently

Author: avadel

Requester: HKelle

Category: Writing Tips

There's definitely a difference between head-hopping and omniscient POV. In case you haven't heard of the term, head-hopping is when narration changes point of view (usually when it should have stuck with the POV it was already in). Omniscient POV is a narrator that knows everything—you can think of it as a separate character, or a persona of the author(s).

Disclaimer: our definitions here and following might not be the cut-and-dry Google or literary definitions. However, they are the distinctions we've noticed in conversations about the topic and in books themselves.

Omniscient POV

This style of writing can definitely be successful. After all, there have been majorly popular omniscient POV books, like Lemony Snickett's The Series of Unfortunate Events, and more recently, My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. Since an omniscient narrator knows the whole story from start to end, they can tell whatever details are relevant to the story whenever they want to (even if it hasn't happened chronologically yet). These types of books tend to be very tongue-in-cheek. Still, for most of the narration time, these books follow the convention of honing in on one character at a time, only popping out to give more information when it's called for. It is tricky to write well, but when it's pulled off, it can add an effective humorous element to the story. As far as we're aware, this kind of in-your-face omniscience is most common in children's lit (so the author can keep the younger audience up-to-date) and satire. If you're not using it for the humor, you're probably not using the genre to its full potential, and there may be a better way to tell the story than omnisciently. 

Head-Hopping

On the other hand, head-hopping is being omniscient on accident. If your book focuses on a single POV, your MC shouldn't know what their friend is thinking unless they happen to be telepathic. (;

Your MC also shouldn't know the future (unless they're telling the story in retrospect). None of that, "Little did Johnny know, today would be the last day he would ever see his family." This kind of stuff happens in kid's lit probably because it's more obvious foreshadowing than using stuff like imagery and symbolism, which would be harder for kids to pick up. However, this technique, unless used purposefully in omniscient POV, is usually considered lazy. 

The In-Betweeen

If you're familiar with this topic (or you Google it), you might notice our definitions leave out some commonly cited omniscient POV books. These books, like Pride and Prejudice, War and Peace, and Little Women, may be omniscient by the letter of the law. However, they're not in your face about it. They use it to change point of view, but not to skip around or deliver information that seems out-of-nowhere. The narrator also has no persona of its own.

So, changing POV (even in the same chapter) is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if that's a consistent feature of your book. This falls somewhere between limited third person and full-on omniscient. The narrator might talk from the MC's POV for a little while, and then switch to the MC's friend later, and back again. John Flannagan, author of the Ranger's Apprentice series, is a good example of this. He doesn't take a full I-know-everything-about-this-story stance; instead, he just knows everything about his characters. You might get inner thoughts from more than one person in one scene (which you might strictly define as head-hopping). Modern wisdom says this is a no-no, but I think it depends. 

Whether to Head-Hop

The problem is that head-hopping is jarring. However, if you do it and 1) it's not jarring, 2) you find it effective to tell your story, and 3) you're consistent, I say go for it. The biggest issue is that a lot of authors head-hop on accident, and it detracts from the story. They're not seriously thinking about, "What would my character know? What is going on in this scene? How can I best tell it from his eyes?" If you don't give serious thought to that, you're cheating yourself and your story. But like any art, there are no hard-and-fast rules. Each situation is different. Consider your options thoroughly. Ask yourself, "How best can I tell this story?" And then proceed from there. 

We hope that helps, and if anyone has any more questions about it, please let us know! (=

Want more information on head-hopping specifically and how to spot it? Comment, and we'll throw it in the requested topics list!

Want to submit your own Tip? 
Comment in this book and email your entry to avadelauthors@gmail.com. We'll review it, and if we think it's well-written and helpful to the Wattpad community, we'll post it! Your entry may be something you have written previously, even if it is published elsewhere. (=

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