Common Pitfalls and How to Fix Them
Hello, writer friends, I hope you’ve all had a great holiday and are back at the craft, learning and writing. Before we took some time off, I was writing a lot about point of view (POV). I want to wrap that up with this post, which can serve as a final checklist to ensure that you’ve got this topic down. So feel free to go back and look at your work in progress (WIP) and compare it against this list. It might not be all-inclusive, but it’s a really good start.
- Avoid Head Hopping. Stick to one POV per scene and use clear scene/chapter breaks when switching.
- Balance Deep POV with Narrative Flow. Mix internal dialogue with action and external sensory details to keep the story moving.
- Avoid Overusing Filtering Words. Cut these words and describe the experience directly. A list of filtering words:
-
- Saw
- Heard
- Felt
- Noticed
- Observed
- Thought
- Knew
- Realized
- Wondered
- Considered
- Experienced
- Looked
- Watched
- Maintain POV Consistency. Ensure all descriptions and thoughts come only from what the POV character knows and perceives.
- Deep POV vs. Overwriting. Save deep emotional immersion for key moments and allow for lighter, more natural narrative flow elsewhere.
- Let Characters Experience Events Naturally. Let the character process events naturally, just as a real person would. If something is shocking or overwhelming, they might not register all details immediately.
- Be Careful Not to Overexplain Internal Thoughts. Trust the reader to infer emotions from the context, dialogue, and sensory details.
- Be Careful with Dialogue Tags. Avoid weak dialogue tags like “she exclaimed” or redundant tags that tell instead of show. Instead, use action beats or let the dialogue itself convey the emotion.
- Ensure Appropriate Emotional and Narrative Pacing. Balance moments of deep introspection with action, movement, or lighter scenes.
- Differentiate Characters’ Unique Voices in Deep POV. Ensure each character has a distinct voice, influenced by their background, personality, and experiences.
Challenge:
- Pick a scene from your work-in-progress.
- Apply the checklist and see if it helps you spot POV errors.
