Craft Glossary · term

Head-hopping vs. omniscient

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Plain English: Head-hopping is accidentally slipping into another character's interiority mid-scene in a limited POV ("She smiled, not knowing he found her annoying"). True omniscient is a controlled, consistent all-knowing narrator — a different choice, not an accident.

Rule: In limited POV, you may only report what the POV character could perceive or infer. Change heads only at a scene/chapter break, clearly signposted.

Fail: Unsignaled mid-scene head-hops — the most common POV error; reads as carelessness and breaks immersion.

Arjuna Badger Press · Craft Library

Glossary · Doctrine · Anti-patterns · Triptych form · LLM tells

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