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It's fine if the switch is clearly intentional and well sectioned-off. It's fine to jump between POVs for say, chapters or whole scenes. What isn't all right is a book that mostly is one POV, but occasionally will be privy to the thoughts and feelings of another character for a single line/paragraph of a scene, then hops right back to the main character's POV. If you want the freedom to show any character's thoughts at any time, don't bother with a POV style at all, just write with an omniscient narrator.

Having mostly a POV style and breaking consistency for a random moment, that is what's referred to as head-hopping. What you refer to is just multiple POVs or omniscient narration, which happens... pretty much everywhere. I myself wrote in dual POVs; a protagonist and deuteragonist, alternating with each chapter. That, I believe, is perfectly acceptable.

Dune head hops the whole way through and is still held up by many as an example of a Sci-fi great. The rule to any writing mechanic is that it must be executed smoothly, consistently, in a way that does not confuse the reader. Finally that mechanic must be additive, in that it provides something to the story. In Dune, head hopping is is used to show how much everyone is willing to betray everyone else, which directly increases the tension.

Take a look at The Couple Next Door. There is a fair amount of the more traditionally-accepted head hopping and it works fine. It's a recent title.

The advice against head hopping is, I believe, because for a novice it is too easy to accidentally head hop. Learning how to effectively stay in viewpoint is (in my opinion) very necessary as a basic storytelling skill. PoV impacts so much of the experience. I'm about sixteen months into learning how to write novel-length fiction and I'm still learning lots of PoV details.

With the caveat that no rule is absolute, here are a few things I'm gathering from reading published fiction (3rd person limited, or 1st person):

1. Never state the motivation of a non-PoV character except with the qualifier 'seemed to'. He seemed to be bothered. The PoV character is described in terms of motivation. He was bothered.




2. Be careful when describing the PoV character's appearance, throughout. Fine to describe non-PoV character appearance.




3. Avoid describing details of body parts of PoV character's actions, but it's fine to do so for the non-PoV character. She opened the door is fine for either.
   She opened the door with the flat of her palm is more appropriate to the non-PoV character.

These are in addition to the obvious PoV language that one uses. There are probably more small distinctions out there.

Head hopping is fine, but since it takes a little while to master PoV consistency, and perhaps since so many folks can publish so easily these days, the guideline to not head hop seems like a good 'training wheels' sort of rule to follow, until you feel ready to write in a more advanced way.

I am a scientist, and my first reaction to poorly argued questions is often to criticize the logic. Which I will do here, but before I do, I will say there is nothing inherently wrong with head-hopping if it is done right.

The bad logic here is arguing that because famous, one in a million authors have done something, it is fine for me to do it too. JK Rowling uses "-ly" adverbs all over the place, and she's the richest living author. Dan Brown's writing is heavily criticized, he's in the top 10. If you accept the logic that if something is in a million-seller book, it must be alright to do that, then we can find all sorts of terrible passages and practices in million-sellers that put together, would simply never sell. They are excused because the mistakes are overwhelmed by the imagination of an ultra-genius story teller. And 99.99% of us, including me, are just not in their company.

That said, the problem with head-hopping is not cheating the reader, or leaving the reader feeling like they have been cheated. The same problem with omniscient, the same problem with even a single POV inside the character's thoughts and feelings.

When you expose the thoughts and feelings of multiple characters, there is an implied understanding by the reader that you will expose any important thoughts and feelings of those characters. Or, if your POV jumps by chapters or geography, that while you are in a POV, you will not conceal anything important from us about that character's thoughts and feelings.

I know there are exceptions, but in general, once most readers finish a passage on what Joe is thinking, and another on what Mary is thinking, they feel "privileged" to such knowledge, and if they find out later Joe or Mary had an important secret (a plot point, a reveal, etc), they feel cheated. They were supposed to be informed of any important thoughts Joe or Mary might have, and finding out later Joe was the villain all along feels like a cheat by the author.

As other posters here have said, you have created a "contract" with the reader by the narrator revealing the thoughts and feelings of character X: Obviously the narrator always knows, so failing to report something important to the plot and story or guilt or innocence of X feels like a lie of omission, an intentional deception. Or when it comes out, it feels to the reader like an ass-pull.

These "contracts" with several or all main characters make writing some stories rather difficult, because so little can be kept from the reader without violating the contract. Sticking to a single POV character (or one at a time) with a limited narrator (not omniscient) has two advantages: In the modern market, readers like character driven stories, and identifying with the characters, or at least their struggle. IRL we are not omniscient, and that is the source of many problems. We don't know what is truly in other people's heads. We don't know what will happen or how an experiment will turn out, like a truly omniscient narrator might reveal.

So it is actually easier (IMO) to write single POV stories, and stick to the discipline that requires. It feels more intimate and I can have things going on my MC doesn't know about, so it is easier to develop surprises, twists, and have failures occur that the MC (and reader) do not see coming.

So head-hopping can and has been used successfully, but because of the implicit contract you create with the reader, it is extremely easy to screw up and create a story the reader wants to throw against the wall. Don't point at masters for your justification. Like any art, they are masters because they were successful at something extremely difficult to pull off, and on top of that, it was in their time and for their audience, both of which may be extinct!

I would say, that here are two main factors:

• today's popularity - it is not much popular now and to make exception, you need make exceptional work. So it is not recomended, if you are starting, as take mainstream approach is far safer. (Hard to make big mistake, but also hard to stand out.) So consesus say, that you do not do it. (But all big works somehow went against concesuses and norms valid at their time, otherwise it would not be so big.)




• difficulty to make it right - the reader should not be confused, what happens and should not feel cheated by hidding informations.

In the other question is in one comment mentioned Death Note scene where the focus (or POV) is really fast changing from one character to another and we hear (or read in suntitles) what they are thinking. The fact is, that there are really good indications, what is POV of which character, with long detailed visualisation of details (eyes movement, legs, fists ...) which also are used to concentrate focus on the character, which is "just now" acting (talking, thinking, looking, doing nothing).

In writing each of that focus shift would be granted at least long paragraph (or two or more), probably started with actor name

Ryoga sudently turned to Light and whisper .... while intesively staring at his face from few inches.

next paragraph

Light was deeply shocked, but managed to not change expression ...

after long internal monologue and movement (or lack of that) in few paragraphs

... He calmly turned to Ryoga.

next paragraph

Royga was still intesively staring at Light, waiting to see his reaction.

next paragraph

Light said in controlled voice: ...

But it works here, as the author plays from start with "open cards" and we hear all internal monologue of main actors and we know, what they do not know and why. Only few "tricks" are played out of screen (=secret), but as we do not follow those actors 24/7, there are spaces for their internal thoughts. And in the scenes, where "hidden agenda" could be potentially revealed, are much more immediate conflicts, so even if we "hear" actors thoughts, the actor would not think about the "hidden agenda" at that point as there is something else, which needs his attention and it does not touch the "hidden agenda", which is then revealed much later, when its effects are visible to us and actors have time to think/talk about it.

On the other hand it is totally possible to use either third person, or POV of main charater and occassionally jump to POV of another one, as long, as it is clear, who's POV it is now and you are fair with proper information revealing.

Yours examples from LoTR makes clean, who is in POV now and all important thinking he have (usually just one sentence about the mood of this scene, than actual wording and the sentence sumarised the scene better, than long talking about all (unimportant) details, which would send the same message to the reader).

Theare (at least) two reasons for "jump to someone's head":

• describe something internal to actor


• describe something external to actor

The internal view is about motives, plans, personal history and such and there applies "not cheating" as @Amadeus explained in his excelent answer. (Adam remembered "I distrusted Betty from the first moment I met her ...")

The external view is about what is visible or known in the world and used as the way to communicate it to reader - this "dips" are much less personal and "secret agenda" does not need to be opened without the feel of cheating (

Everyone in the party was stunned by the magnificient view that opened before their eyes - all the forests, rivers, lakes, vilages and cities ... (and now you can describe the feelings, that the country eminated and such, without forcing characters to spoke it aloud.

Adam (our hero) found a script and now talks in pub with Cyril. Adam: "You know Wizard King?" Cyril noded: "Yes, but it's just a legend." Every village had such legend he remembered how their version described to details the big fight ... now you can present the local variation of common legend, which is simillar to all others and normal adult would not really beleive it, the less recite it in capital town pub in full. But reader now know the legend too and so Adam and Cyril can just talk about the script and relevant fragments of the legend and find, that Cyril's "common knowledge" does not fits Adams, but explains part of the script suprisingly well.

It is also possible to hide "secret global agenda" in scenes, where is some kind of conflict/action immediately at hands, which steal the spotlight of the actor minds to just the one particular point, not related to the hidden agenda.

In example above Adam and Cyril are both discussing the Wizard King, so if there are some other agendas (say Cyril wants to find, who killed his family and Adam is traveling world, as he do not like to live with his father, who still brags, how many people he killed in all those wars - and actually even Cyrils family was in that count) it may be not mentioned here, as none of them IS actually thinking about that.

It may came out later, when they travel together some time and Adam shows some knowledge about hills around Cyrils village, which he had from his father and Cyril realised, that Adams father must be there about the right time, so he starts to consider, if Adams father can be related to that murder...