But you can’t go head-hopping!
You could with Alle at the PNW Writers Assoc. annual conference
Over the weekend, I had the absolute privilege to teach at The Pacific Northwest Writers Association’s annual conference. It was particularly gratifying to present as I have spent a number of PNWA conferences trying to interest an agent in my manuscript — now published and with an audio book and everything!
WHAT I TAUGHT
Saturday the 23rd THE MOVEABLE BOOK FEAST was four rooms of five round tables each, where mini-sessions took place. After 20 minutes, DING, and the students moved to a different table. I taught “Virginia Woolf Does It, Why Can’t I: Head-hopping in Fiction.”
What is head-hopping: when a story or scene being told from the POV of a single character shifts suddenly to the POV of a different character, or the narrator. When done accidentally, the writer includes details, observations, and thoughts that the character with the primary POV cannot know. Confusing!!
However, when the writer purposefully hops heads, it can result in creamy-smooth reading. If a writer wants to show something from a different character’s POV, cue the reader that you’re about to hop heads with a transition sentence that uses one of the five senses to bring the reader’s attention to the destination character.
Your critique group might decry you. Your editor will red-pencil you to death. I suggested telling the, “I’m trying this new thing,” and then doing it with grace and excellence throughout the manuscript. The question is not whether a writer is allow to head-hop. The question is: did it work? Did the reader follow you?
Great fun!
Sunday the 24th BUILD TO A BOOK DEAL was a one-hour workshop examining the whole of the publishing industry and how each writer can maximize their experiences (in and out of the industry) to increase their chances of landing a traditional deal.
Generally, I teach the workshop in three- or four-hour blocks, with lots of handouts (no Powerpoint — tech; ug). This time, it was me and a mic. The crowd was big enough that the room buzzed yet small enough that everyone seemed to feel comfortable asking questions and appeared to get all theirs answered.
One attendee said, “This workshop was the full package: how to get short pieces placed to how to research and track subs, and then approaching an agent.” I felt so gratified!
THANKS, PNWA, FOR HAVING ME!
