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nebulos

@orionkidder @allisonwyss duuude same. I love POV and camera angles and narrative distance but my beta readers Do Not. I'm also expecting a dev edit back today and explicitly asked them to comment on that...

@orionkidder @allisonwyss interestingly though, only the writer-beta readers. the non-writers didn't comment on it...

@nebulos @orionkidder

Not surprising! POV violation is a thing made up by writers--readers don't care nearly as much. I have a whole class on this stuff.

@nebulos @orionkidder

Most readers want to feel what perspective they are in, and that they are generally in capable hands regarding POV. But as long as the write signals shifts and readers don't get completely lost, they rarely mind jumping around or zooming in and out. If it's handled well, it's a plus instead of a minus. And many times, readers don't even _notice_. They only notice when they get confused.

@allisonwyss @orionkidder Ya, despite being a POV iconoclast, I did once leave a comment about when there was a switch in the middle of the scene. I actually picked up on it just fine, my comment was that it didn't seem momentous enough. We finally saw into Mr. Tall and Mysterious Love Interest's head. You gotta make that a special occasion!

@allisonwyss @orionkidder It's also rough cuz since all the writing advice is so dogmatic on Dont Do It, it's hard to find sensible advice on how to do it, not to mention it differs from person to person. For me, just having the person speak last is enough of a signifier, but I suspect that's not the case for most people.

@nebulos @orionkidder

If you make that the consistent pattern, it can be enough. If you only do it occasionally, the reader might not catch that as a signifier.

@nebulos @orionkidder

Ah! And you're pointing out another thing that readers like, which is consistency. If the pattern teaches them one thing, they will be slightly (sometimes subconsciously) unsettled by a hitch to the pattern. This doesn't have to be a bad thing! Sometimes--as you say--it just wants to be momentous. But you can also just establish a pattern of shifts and zooms, so it doesn't unsettle.

(Also, shifts to reveal go over better than shifts to conceal.)