This is my favorite POV. And I always write in it. Why? Because... I like movies and series. And I got motivated to write because of those movies and series. Also, I like to have deep characters and show what each of them do with their life in different scenes, just like a series. I want to have a wide spread of characters, But I don't think we can focus on secondary characters too much in 1st and 3rd POV. Imo the omniscient POV can be more deep and interesting. You can see different places and characters and don't have to stick to only one. But, yeah, the narrator should not tell everything he knows and shouldn't forget who's the main character. And one last thing that I have in my mind... Maybe many people can write a good 1st or 3rd POV, but it's harder to write an Omniscient one that actually is good... That's why I rather to write in the POV that I feel is more challenging.
This was very helpful. I'm currently working on a novel that is in 3rd person and I'm finding it very difficult to keep on track with how to write each character without showing favoritism or trying to tell the story from one pov in 3rd person because I have a family pov.
I am currently reading the series "His Daek Materials" by Pjillip Pullman and I think it is a great example of a well done omniscient narrator! Gives insights into many characters' thoughts, but is subtle about it, really good.
Yes! I absolutely thrive on omniscient POV. I hate first-person, it's awkward to me. I'm not who I'm writing, they're distinct entities. I'd much rather disect an ensemble cast from afar. Of course, it takes a little restraint. It only makes sense that relaying multiple streams of consciousness within a scene often would be very confusing and overwhelming. It should be used very sparingly. I tend to have one anchor character's thoughts per scene if it pertains to that character, or no individual thoughts at all. The only time I can think of where actively headhopping thoughts within a scene is very rare, and again only when done sparingly. Perhaps for a joke where every character gets to have a shocked inner comment (although that could easily be conveyed through body language), or, something like in Revenge of the Sith when Anakin and Padme are in two different locations across the city but pining for each other at the same time. I could see a book conveying their thoughts in that moment back and forth really well, what they wish they could be saying to each other in that moment but can't.
It never occurred to me that any reader would hate First-Person Narrative: it has immediacy and freshness. *Jane Eyre* *Wuthering Heights* *Le Grand Meaulnes* *The Good Soldier* *The Great Gatsby* *Rebecca* *Room at the Top* *The Magus* are First Person, and are all good stories. Steinbeck used a kind of restrained First Person voice in *East of Eden* as he recounts the history of the Trask and Hamilton families. Read *The East of Eden Journal* to see the ups and downs in Steinbeck's days as he laboured on his opus which the American Lit establishment such as Alfred Kazin and Mary McCarthy disliked. I like the novel very much. Miss Shaelin Bishop (now who is she?) employs First Person in her story *I Will Never Tell You This* (The Puritan online) which works marvellously well. One day I'll walk into Waterstones in Glasgow Scotland and buy her first book.
Thank you for this! I was worried that head hopping would be a giant no no so I'm happy to be validated today haha. Must work on the showing though. Great video ☺️
this was super helpful!! Hopping from one character's internal state to another is something I most definately struggle with, and I'm looking for ways to reduce it and write it more smoothly
Thanks a lot for this video, I've been using third person omniscient in my present work and I really liked getting advices of the common mistakes. The cinematic feel has gotta be one of my favorite features of this POV
It's the best kind of point of view, in the end, reader feel they have a thorough grasp of the story., they know everything that happened in the story. It's the kind if novel readers find themselves narrating to others in their little circles and gatherings
Spot on as usual! Thank you. I am writing a historical romance series (1715) about a young peasant woman struggling to make her way and find love in a male dominated England society. There are four protagonists. They interact but of course each have their own backstory. I follow Reedsy religiously. At what point should I consider engaging one of your editors to edit my manuscript? The title of my first st book is ”I Be a Child No More”.
Patrick White said he felt an icy coldness rereading Flaubert's *Madame Bovary* which begins with a first-person narrator and then changes to third-person omniscient. I recall the same feeling reading *Appointment in Samarra* in our university library in Glasgow in 1969, and disliking the novel's tone as much as its characters, a callow opinion I no longer hold. *Our story opens in the mind of Luther L (L for Leroy) who is lying in his bed,* wrote O'Hara, who understood his flawed people uncommonly well. Read the novel online. *If you like Richard Yates you might like John O'Hara.* Scott Bradfield. UA-cam. (My comments are under the name Jack John Hameld.) Mr Bradfield is author of *The History of Luminous Motion* . His UA-cam vlogs deal with the nuts and bolts of writing like yours, Shaelin.
Wow, this video just made me realize that I almost always write in omniscient POV...how can you tell the difference between third person and omniscient?? Did I miss you saying that? 😦
If you ever want to explore the rare second point of view, check out Lefcadio Hearn's "Japanese Ghost Stories". I like the Head-Hopping tip, frequency of these videos, and Shaelin. Hey Shaelin can you do a video on metaphors? What makes a great metaphor? Thanks.
*Japanese Ghost Stories* in the Penguin Classic edition is wonderful, likewise the ghost stories of M.R. James also Penguin. There is a BBC documentary on M.R. James. Don't miss *Ghostland* by Edward Parnell, a journey into the quieter regions of England, described by the great English ghost writers. Mr Parnell reads from his book on UA-cam: The comment by Jack John Hameld is by me.
Hello and thanks very much for all of your videos. I am wondering if you could give a couple of examples of omniscient POV, where the narrator is also telling both their own story (as subplot) and where the characters also speak in first person (multiple characters)? The narrator would be telling say the nature of reality and how the earth was first formed, nature of God, etc.
This is my favorite POV. And I always write in it. Why? Because... I like movies and series. And I got motivated to write because of those movies and series. Also, I like to have deep characters and show what each of them do with their life in different scenes, just like a series. I want to have a wide spread of characters, But I don't think we can focus on secondary characters too much in 1st and 3rd POV. Imo the omniscient POV can be more deep and interesting. You can see different places and characters and don't have to stick to only one. But, yeah, the narrator should not tell everything he knows and shouldn't forget who's the main character. And one last thing that I have in my mind... Maybe many people can write a good 1st or 3rd POV, but it's harder to write an Omniscient one that actually is good... That's why I rather to write in the POV that I feel is more challenging.
This was very helpful. I'm currently working on a novel that is in 3rd person and I'm finding it very difficult to keep on track with how to write each character without showing favoritism or trying to tell the story from one pov in 3rd person because I have a family pov.
I am currently reading the series "His Daek Materials" by Pjillip Pullman and I think it is a great example of a well done omniscient narrator! Gives insights into many characters' thoughts, but is subtle about it, really good.
i am actually working on a book with this style of story telling
That’s cool, I’m also writing a story with this kind of story telling as well.
Yes! I absolutely thrive on omniscient POV. I hate first-person, it's awkward to me. I'm not who I'm writing, they're distinct entities. I'd much rather disect an ensemble cast from afar.
Of course, it takes a little restraint. It only makes sense that relaying multiple streams of consciousness within a scene often would be very confusing and overwhelming. It should be used very sparingly. I tend to have one anchor character's thoughts per scene if it pertains to that character, or no individual thoughts at all.
The only time I can think of where actively headhopping thoughts within a scene is very rare, and again only when done sparingly. Perhaps for a joke where every character gets to have a shocked inner comment (although that could easily be conveyed through body language), or, something like in Revenge of the Sith when Anakin and Padme are in two different locations across the city but pining for each other at the same time. I could see a book conveying their thoughts in that moment back and forth really well, what they wish they could be saying to each other in that moment but can't.
It never occurred to me that any reader would hate First-Person Narrative: it has immediacy and freshness.
*Jane Eyre* *Wuthering Heights* *Le Grand Meaulnes* *The Good Soldier* *The Great Gatsby* *Rebecca* *Room at the Top* *The Magus* are First Person, and are all good stories. Steinbeck used a kind of restrained First Person voice in *East of Eden* as he recounts the history of the Trask and Hamilton families. Read *The East of Eden Journal* to see the ups and downs in Steinbeck's days as he laboured on his opus which the American Lit establishment such as Alfred Kazin and Mary McCarthy disliked. I like the novel very much.
Miss Shaelin Bishop (now who is she?) employs First Person in her story *I Will Never Tell You This* (The Puritan online) which works marvellously well. One day I'll walk into Waterstones in Glasgow Scotland and buy her first book.
Thank you for this! I was worried that head hopping would be a giant no no so I'm happy to be validated today haha. Must work on the showing though. Great video ☺️
That was a good example comparing Omniscient to a "movie" director's view of a story. never thought of it that way.
this was super helpful!! Hopping from one character's internal state to another is something I most definately struggle with, and I'm looking for ways to reduce it and write it more smoothly
Omniscient point of view is a wonderful point of view to use in stories and novels. I absolutely love it, but then I'm old-fashioned, or just old.
Thanks a lot for this video, I've been using third person omniscient in my present work and I really liked getting advices of the common mistakes. The cinematic feel has gotta be one of my favorite features of this POV
Thanks for the tips, it can be hard to get the thoughts of multiple characters, as opposed to just one.
It's the best kind of point of view, in the end, reader feel they have a thorough grasp of the story., they know everything that happened in the story. It's the kind if novel readers find themselves narrating to others in their little circles and gatherings
Thank you!!!! I'm editing my first novel and it's in this POV, also I'm using the Reedsy editor and it's awesome for anyone interested
Spot on as usual! Thank you. I am writing a historical romance series (1715) about a young peasant woman struggling to make her way and find love in a male dominated England society. There are four protagonists. They interact but of course each have their own backstory. I follow Reedsy religiously. At what point should I consider engaging one of your editors to edit my manuscript? The title of my first st book is ”I Be a Child No More”.
Patrick White said he felt an icy coldness rereading Flaubert's *Madame Bovary* which begins with a first-person narrator and then changes to third-person omniscient. I recall the same feeling reading *Appointment in Samarra* in our university library in Glasgow in 1969, and disliking the novel's tone as much as its characters, a callow opinion I no longer hold.
*Our story opens in the mind of Luther L (L for Leroy) who is lying in his bed,* wrote O'Hara, who understood his flawed people uncommonly well.
Read the novel online.
*If you like Richard Yates you might like John O'Hara.* Scott Bradfield. UA-cam. (My comments are under the name Jack John Hameld.)
Mr Bradfield is author of *The History of Luminous Motion* . His UA-cam vlogs deal with the nuts and bolts of writing like yours, Shaelin.
Wow, this video just made me realize that I almost always write in omniscient POV...how can you tell the difference between third person and omniscient?? Did I miss you saying that? 😦
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques is an excellent example of omniscient POV.
Very helpful ✨
Helped me with school!
Omniscient POV is the best way to do social relationships. Jane Austin did this all the time.
If you ever want to explore the rare second point of view, check out Lefcadio Hearn's "Japanese Ghost Stories". I like the Head-Hopping tip, frequency of these videos, and Shaelin. Hey Shaelin can you do a video on metaphors? What makes a great metaphor? Thanks.
*Japanese Ghost Stories* in the Penguin Classic edition is wonderful, likewise the ghost stories of M.R. James also Penguin.
There is a BBC documentary on M.R. James.
Don't miss *Ghostland* by Edward Parnell, a journey into the quieter regions of England, described by the great English ghost writers.
Mr Parnell reads from his book on UA-cam: The comment by Jack John Hameld is by me.
Hello and thanks very much for all of your videos. I am wondering if you could give a couple of examples of omniscient POV, where the narrator is also telling both their own story (as subplot) and where the characters also speak in first person (multiple characters)? The narrator would be telling say the nature of reality and how the earth was first formed, nature of God, etc.
Omniscient always just sounds like "head-hopping" to me but.. yeah.
This might be out of style, but it's my favorite way to write. LOL
I tried this on my novel, and everyone critisises the lack of Character POV, and the fact that I'm telling more than showing.
How do you not head hop in a omniscient narrative?
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I'm writing a Naruto fanfiction could this point of view work for this type of story
Is this 4th person narrator?
Decent content
this is how the Hobbit starts, omniscient wizard voice narrator
I like to stick to one point of view at a time.
1st person omniscient POV via The Rock who thinks in 3rd person would be interesting.
Copy and paste.