Point of View

What It Does

Tracks first-person pronouns (I, me, my, we) and third-person pronouns (he, she, they, him, her) within each scene. Establishes a dominant POV based on pronoun frequency, then flags lines that deviate.

Why It Matters

Unintentional POV shifts are disorienting. If a scene is written in close third person ("He walked to the door") and suddenly shifts to first person ("I couldn't believe what I saw"), the reader doesn't know whose head they're in. Even within third person, an involuntary shift between characters (sometimes called "head-hopping") breaks the reader's immersion.

What Gets Flagged

POV Deviation

Severity: Warning

Example (flagged):

Established POV: Third person (he/she)

Line 47: "I knew this was a mistake." — First-person intrusion in a third-person scene

Why: This line uses first-person pronouns in a scene where the dominant POV is third person.

Suggested revision:

"He knew this was a mistake." — or insert a scene break before switching to a new POV character

How POV Is Established

The analyzer counts first-person and third-person pronouns in each scene and picks the dominant set. A deviation threshold ensures minor mentions (e.g., dialogue containing "I") don't trigger false positives.

Configuration

No configuration options.

Technical Details

• Source: prose-craft
• Scope: Scene-level
• Minimum text: Requires enough pronoun data to establish a baseline
• Method: Pronoun frequency counting; majority-vote POV establishment; per-line deviation detection