Making Clean Point of View (POV) Changes
Wednesday's Writing on Writing
The story I wanted to tell in Left Behind was so big, I needed another perspective character, someone who could be where Rayford Steele couldn't be. 
While Rayford was home with his daughter or getting back to flying when the air routes were reopened, someone had to be globe-trotting. I needed a pair of eyes in New York, then London, then Israel. It was too much to expect of a pilot (Rayford) without turning him into a comic book hero.
In chapter one, while Rayford is still trying to talk himself into seeing Hattie, we move from the cockpit to first class. And to be sure to keep the reader with me, to show a shift not only in seeing but in perspective, I inserted an extra line space and even added a horizontal line.
There's no secret to changing perspective characters. You must be clear and courteous to the reader, just as you would be to a house guest. I wanted to leave zero doubt in the reader's mind what was going on. My solution in Left Behind, besides the obvious space and line, was to immediately establish the new perspective character:
"Next to a window in first class, a writer sat hunched over his laptop…. At thirty, Cameron Williams was the youngest ever senior writer for the prestigious Global Weekly…"
From this point on, Cameron (Buck) will share the point-of-view load. Until book five in the series, he and Rayford are the only two perspective characters. We go only where they go, hear their thoughts, see what they see. And every time the story switches from one to the other, I made sure to give the reader clear clues.
After several pages establishing Cameron and foreshadowing how events will affect him, I switched back to Rayford with a space and a line. But I wanted it even more obvious than that:
"Not sure whether he'd follow through with anything overt, Captain Rayford Steele felt an irresistible urge to see Hattie Durham right then."
The above reminds the reader of Rayford's internal struggle, but just to be sure the readers could follow the change in perspective, I reverted to whole names again for both him and Hattie. I didn't want my guests wondering what was going on.
