Subject: Well, one shouldnÂ’t.
Author:
Posted on: 2015-08-15 19:21:00 UTC
Of course there should be some scene divider, or a new chapter, but point-of-view tags are offending.
Supposed I showed the readers Mafalda Hopkirk sitting in the Trace room, watching the Trace report of the Battle of the DOM and organizing counter measures. Then, after a scene divider, I show the readers Constable Bulstrode taking the elevators down to the Atrium and walking to the watchwizards security desk. Why on earth should I tell the readers that the first scene is "Hopkirk’s POV" and the second scene is "Bulstrode’s POV"?
It’s a bit trickier with First Person. For one, the tone of the narration should change, showing that another person is narrating now. Then, the readers should get clues from the narration. They hopefully still remember whom Hopkirk sent down to the Atrium in the last scene (but I may pull off a surprise by having another narrator also going down their).
So, I would put up point-of-view tags because I don’t trust my reader’s ability to understand what’s going on there in plain sight? Or because I don’t trust my ability to show what’s going on in the narrative (in which case I should continue writing to improve my skills, but I probably shouldn’t go public yet)? Or because I’m too lazy to even try? Can there be any other reason?
HG