on Live Write Thrive:

Nailing proper use of POV (point of view) is a challenge for many fiction writers. It seems easy, right? Whoever has the point of view in a scene is telling and showing the events unfolding. You can only be in one head per scene, the current “rule” goes. Back in the day (some decades ago), head hopping wasn’t tagged as a violation. But it is today.

However, it’s not that easy. Pitfalls abound when it comes to POV, but with help, writers can spot them.

One writing instructor handed out empty toilet paper rolls to his students in class and instructed them to look through the cardboard tube. He told them, “That’s your character’s POV—anything you can see through that tube.” A clever way to get across the concept of POV.

But there is so much more to POV than what a character sees. Regardless of whether you are writing in first-person or third-person POV, deep or shallow or omniscient, the entire scene—including the narrative—falls under the purview of POV.

That means the character’s voice, knowledge, background, and personality inform every word in a scene. Essentially, it’s all in her head, spoken or not. And this fact is what often trips up writers. While keeping faithful to POV in action and direct thoughts, they fail to pay attention to the rest. And maybe some readers won’t notice the slipups. But others will. And more importantly, the integrity of a scene breaks down when POV violations seep in.