Head hopping. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s when the reader is placed inside the head of one or more characters within the same scene. Why is this bad? Well, for starters, it’s confusing.

Jumping from one character’s inner thoughts to another within close paragraphs and sentences makes it hard for a reader to keep track of who is thinking and feeling what, and when it comes to writing, you don’t want confused readers.

Readers who are unsure of what is happening will put a book down without finishing it, one-star it, or tell others not to bother. You want your writing to be as clear as possible so your readers can follow the story, bond with the characters, and revel in your genius plot twists. Ensuring you aren’t head hopping is one way to achieve that, and here is how you can eliminate it from your writing.