Switching POV?

[kitty_fic]

What are your thoughts on switching POV?

Do you stay within one POV in your fics? Or do you ever switch it up between chapters? How about switching POV in the same chapter, as long as it's still clear whose POV you are in?

Comments

[dysonrules.livejournal.com]

POV switching in the same scene is my #1 pet peeve. I have been known to copy fics into Word, CHANGE THEM, and save them so I can stand to read them with all the POV swapping. I hate reading a scene and being happily in one character's head and then having to backtrack and reread it once I realize the author has jumped brains.

Harry walked into the room and picked up an apple. Draco was looking fetching today in his bright green robes, even if he was still a git.

Harry was looking fetching today in black.

(WHY THE FUCK WOULD HARRY THINK THAT? WAS THERE A TYPO...??? OH WAIT, IT'S DRACO'S POV NOW. *gnashes teeth in rage and rereads the damn scene, switching heads when necessary*)

Yeah, if I do multi-POV, I use clear scene or chapter breaks. (I do tend to write from both POVs, but I very clearly delineate it. I use a single POV if I want the element of surprise by having the first character (and the readers) never quite knowing what the second character is thinking.