: Re: What is "head popping" and why is it bad? Most of my writing experience has been with first person, nonfiction stories. Now I want to try some fiction. I'm working in third person, but I'm

@Gail2416123

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You can’t tell another characters thoughts if they are not the first person narrator. You can however, change the POV. Not in that on specific section, but the whole book. First, finish your first draft and ask yourself:
Should this better be explained if it was written in thirt person? Third person omniscient? First person? Maybe even second person, in rare cases. It depends on the novel you’re writing.
If you want to focus mainly on the external conflict (if that is the kind of conflict in your novel) and the characters thoughts and feelings aren’t really a big part of the story, then first person definitely isn’t the way to write your novel.
If however, your characters thoughts and feelings DO matter, and are a significant part of the story, and you need to write down more then one characters thoughts for it to make sense, then I would go with third person omniscient.
I have never written anything in second person besides essays, so I’m not sure about that one, but I encourage you to do your research.
For first person, typically the first person narrator is the main character and hero. If only that characters thoughts and feelings are important, then first person is for sure the way to go. For example, in a novel I’m writing my first person narrator is the way I chose to write the story, because my main character has feelings of tremendous guilt that her family’s death was her fault, and she doesn’t tell anyone. So if I wrote in third person, we wouldn’t know this important information about the main character.
I hope this helps you with your POV problem. If not, I’m sure there are many online courses and classes you can take on this subject.

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