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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/27864
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In the story I am trying to write, I have a question about character point of view. I'm writing in what I believe is omniscient style, and I've read that changing POV within the same paragraph is not something one should do, but in my story I switch POV, and I'm wondering if I shouldn't. I'll have to provide several paragraphs to show how I switched, with my primary POV being from a character named John to a boy he's traveling with named Sylar (although in the provided paragraphs it's in the middle of the story with Sylar's POV). If anyone can comment if I should be writing the boy's POV from John's perspective, or if what I wrote is just fine, please let me know. I am looking for critique.

> Unable to see what was wrong with his pack, Sylar unslung it, placed it in the snow in front of him, then frowned. It was, indeed, open at the top. Grumbling to himself, he began tying it once more. “‘Snot my fault the bags bulging,” he complained loudly. “_That_ fault lies with someone else. I said let’s go home hours ago, but some slave driver I know _insisted_ we keep gathering. Then we see this wolf. A freakishly painted, icy-eyed massive beast at that. Can’t be seeing brown or grey or even green-eyed wolves, now can we? 'Twould be too normal, wouldn’t it? To have normal colored eyes, that is. I once heard blue-eyed wolves are an ill omen, but that’s only if you trust the tavern bards at the Iron Keg. Scoundrels; the lot of 'em I say.”
> 
> “Oh?” John murmured, as if Sylar had spoken something of interest and not merely grumbled out several complaints in a row as the boy was wont to do all day long. “Fascinating story you have there.”
> 
> Sylar gritted his teeth. “We could have been eaten, you know," he said, suddenly irritated that John wasn't taking the wolf as a serious threat to life and limb. Without warning, a frigid wind swept across the mountain, lasting quite a few moments before dying down. As it passed, it seemed to drain the boy of all his anger, leaving behind nothing but a cold chill to his bones.
> 
> “Young wolves have blue eyes, you know.”
> 
> “Oh, just shut it!” Sylar growled at the mountaineer, shivering all the while.
> 
> No matter how often he had accompanied John on gathering days, he never seemed to get used to the cold. All morning long they had scoured the mountain, filling their backpacks with herbs and roots and with the occasional rock-minerals. It was sparse pickings due to an unnaturally harsh winter, but still, if one knew where to look, and had the time, one could find flora that grew even in the most detrimental of environments. John, somehow, seemed to know exactly where to look, and whilst Sylar truly found the man’s talents amazing, his knack for constantly rooting out hidden herbs was also the reason they were still stuck out in the cold.

After this I return to primarily John's POV. Is this wrong to do, or confusing to a reader? I see where writing in the same paragraph switching POV is very confusing, but is it ok to do this in separate paragraphs when writing from omniscient perspective?

Original score: 1