Do You Have Any Tips For Switching Point Of View? Like My Story I Want Written With 1st Person Following

Do you have any tips for switching point of view? Like my story i want written with 1st person following the main character around but at somepoint i wanna do 3rd person showing what another character is up to during a specific time period. Is there a way to smoothly transition? Or should i avoid doing that

First-Person POV for Protagonist/Third-Person for Another Character

When you’re talking about switching from one character’s POV to another, and switching from say first-person to third-person, you should do it after either a line break, scene break, or chapter break. This break lets the reader (and the editor) know that this POV change was intentional. You’ll also want to use a phrase that transitions into the next POV character to keep things extra smooth.  Imagine the following is an excerpt from a chapter of a novel...

POV/POV Character Transition with No Break

As I wandered down the park’s deserted path, leaves falling all around me, I couldn’t help but wonder what Pete was up to in L.A. at that very moment.

Pete slammed on the breaks, narrowly avoiding a fender bender with the car in front of him. “Learn how to drive, moron!”

Note: See how jarring and confusing that change is without a break? One minute you’re in the first-person POV of the protagonist, walking through an autumnal park, and suddenly Pete is slamming on the breaks... what?! Also, notice how the first section transitions into the second by mentioning Pete... sort of a hand off from one POV character to the next.

POV/POV Character Transition with Line Break

As I wandered down the park’s deserted path, leaves falling all around me, I couldn’t help but wonder what Pete was up to in L.A. at that very moment.

Pete slammed on the breaks, narrowly avoiding a fender bender with the car in front of him. “Learn how to drive, moron!”

Note: That extra line obviously looks more significant in a page of text rather than between just two example lines. But even here, it does just enough to separate the two. 

POV/POV Character Transition with Scene Break

Note: This is even more clear with the scene break. We have left one location and gone to another. We’ve left one character and gone to another. A whole new scene feels natural, and as long as we’re done with the protagonist’s scene and are moving into Pete’s scene, this works best.

POV/POV Character Transition with Chapter Break

As I wandered down the park’s deserted path, leaves falling all around me, I couldn’t help but wonder what Pete was up to in L.A. at that very moment.

Chapter Seven Pete

Pete slammed on the breaks, narrowly avoiding a fender bender with the car in front of him. “Learn how to drive, moron!”

Note: This is my favorite method, with or without the name label (it’s not necessary if you have another way of establishing the POV,) because it’s very clear you’re in a new POV and whose it is. The change from first to third is much less jarring this way. And, again, it works great if you’re done with the previous character’s scene and ready for this character to have a scene or a few.

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this is really how i feel sometimes

Final word on horror, I promise, but I think great horror of any genre hits you in the hindbrain. You can ask yourself post-facto why something works, talk out the logic and its loopholes, but the initial flush of terror? the flinch, the finger digging into your limbic system/guts? that’s what horror is. And no matter how you frame it, discuss it or dissect it, that first flush of shock, pleasure, or revulsion endures.

Writer: I don’t know if anybody will like my story. I’ve never done it before. What if it’s too hard? I’m not sure of anything, I’m second-guessing it, I’m scared that it’ll turn out bad. What if I try my best and still fail? What if my idea is overdone or cliche? Would anybody even be interested in what I have to say? Me, sobbing on my knees: please… write the fuckigngbgng book… stop doubting yourself into a corner… you’ll never know how good you are until you have work to reflect upon… time is limited, and it only runs forward, so please do the same! 

YES.

writing tip #3011:

your work should not be judged by its length, but by its girth