head-hop
head-hop verb: in writing fiction, to switch suddenly from one character's perspective to another's, disrupting the flow of the story.
Verb
head-hop (third-person singular simple present head-hops, present participle head-hopping, simple past and past participle head-hopped)
- In writing fiction, to switch suddenly from one character's perspective to another's, disrupting the flow of the story.
- Editors are very sensitive to POV slips; many consider it the mark of an amateur. So be careful to maintain your point of view; don't head-hop from character to character.2014, Paula Munier, Plot Perfect: How to Build Unforgettable Stories Scene by Scene
- Here we head-hop from Madison to Betsey, as signaled by the text abruptly naming Madison “that bitch.” Both the hop and the term feel harshly out of tune with the preceding action. As a reader, I have barely started getting to know Madison as a character and investing in her as the protagonist...2016, Cheryl Klein, The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults
Forms of head-hop
| third-person singular present | head-hops |
|---|---|
| present participle | head-hopping |
| past participle | head-hopped |
| past | head-hopped |
Origin of head-hop
From head + hop.
Questions about head-hop
- What does head-hop mean?
- Head-hop means in writing fiction, to switch suddenly from one character's perspective to another's, disrupting the flow of the story.
- What part of speech is head-hop?
- Head-hop is a verb.
- What is the past tense of head-hop?
- The past tense of head-hop is head-hopped.
Words near head-hop in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: head-hop (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “head-hop.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/head-hop. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.