Omniscient point of view, the god-like view where the narrator knows all/sees all, has plagued me for a long time. I just couldn’t quite grasp how to write it.
Omniscient was the POV of nineteenth-century books. Later, as third-person limited came on the scene, omni-POV fell out of favor with publishers. I hear that it is recently making a comeback.
But there is an element of omni-POV that is essential and that many beginning writers often miss. So, let’s dive in and take a look at what omniscient point of view truly is.
I’m going to defer to a quote from C. Hugh Holman’s book A Handbook to Literature:
“A term used to describe the point of view in a work of fiction in which the author is capable of knowing, seeing, and telling whatever he or she wishes in the story, and exercises this freedom at will. It is characterized by freedom in shifting from the exterior world to the inner selves of a number of characters and by a freedom in movement in both time and place; but to an even greater extent it is characterized by the freedom of the author to comment upon the meaning of actions and to state the thematic intentions of the story whenever and wherever the author desires” (my emphasis).
The author, as he/she writes, freely inserts his/her own opinions into the story and can directly guide the reader about his/her intent. This is the one element missing in manuscripts I read. And without it, the writer is merely head-hopping, randomly moving into the perspective of various characters within the same scene, and often within a paragraph.
Point of View Options
The most common POV is third person, which comes with four options.
Third-person limited (aka 3rd-person close and 3rd-person subjective). The story is told from the perspective of one character for the entire story using he/she pronouns. There is full access to the character’s experiences including thoughts.
Third-person multiple is very similar to 3rd-person limited, but the story is seen from more than one character’s view point. The critical aspect of this POV is that you can’t be in more than one character’s head at the same moment in the story.
Third-person omniscient: the god voice mentioned in the definition above.
Third-person objective (aka distant 3rd-person). Think of this POV like a camera. The narrator can see everything the characters are doing and saying but does not have access to the characters thoughts.
First-person. The story is told using the first-person pronoun I. With first person you get everything that character experiences, feels, and thinks.
Second-person. Told using the pronoun you. This is rarely used and difficult to pull off. Example: You saunter up to the bank teller, wishing beyond measure the teller doesn’t press the alarm. You plan to rob the bank without anyone around you realizing you are.
Omniscient Point of View
You must establish omniscient POV early in the story. And remember that the omniscient narrator is outside of the story. He/she often makes his/her presence known, and you’ll recognize it by the use of the pronoun I. Let’s look at an example from a master of omni-POV Charles Dickens. This is from A Christmas Carol.
“Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge’s name was good upon the Exchange for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.
“Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a doornail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade.”
Because the first paragraph uses he, you immediately recognize the omniscient story narrator the moment you read I. The narrator is commenting and giving us his opinion.
For me, this brings to mind sitting in the theater watching the screen but having a person right beside me giving me the blow-by-blow along with his editorializing and opinions. This is one of the drawbacks to omniscient POV, it intrudes on the reader and his/her experience of the story, momentarily drawing the reader out of the story. And according to author Nancy Kress it fragments the story and demands a higher level of prose.
I highly recommend Kress’s book Characters, Emotions, & Viewpoint. She dedicates four chapters to point of view, one of which is omniscient. (You can probably find it in the library if you don’t want to purchase it.)
What Point of View Should I Use?
While this is certainly up to the writer, I recommend beginning writers avoid omniscient and stick to first person or third-person limited.
If you are uncertain, write your opening scene in each of the above listed POVs. Which one flows out of you like the water over Niagara Falls? Which one was like opening a rusted car door?
Does your story need a certain emotional distance? You’ll need 3rd-person objective.
If you need to keep certain secrets about your POV story character, then 3rd-person is best. Readers expect full access to the thoughts and emotions of first-person POV characters.
A word of caution about multiple POV characters. This opens you up more readily to head-hopping. When you have multiple POV characters, you can shift between them in the same chapter. It requires a break in the text, usually accomplished with blank spaces or asterisks between paragraphs.
Multi-bestselling author Jerry Jenkins recommends keeping those shifts between chapters. Because I have two first-person POV characters in my Her Inheritance series, I restrict the change to chapters. However, the romance genre demands shifting within a chapter. Readers not only expect it, but also desire it.
Who Should Be My POV Character?
You’ll also want to give consideration to which character in your story claims the coveted POV spot. Generally it is the character with the most at stake, but not always.
Who are the characters in your story? How would your story differ if told from each character’s perspective. Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird is an excellent example. Lee’s POV character is the 6-year-old daughter of lawyer Atticus Finch. But imagine how different that book would read if the main character had been Atticus or even Tom Robinson, the Black man wrongly accused and now standing trial?
The action and theme of your story and how well those two items can be portrayed may well impact whom you choose as your protagonist.
There you have it. Point of view in a walnut shell.
Any questions? Drop them in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer.
This article is so helpful! I’ve read about using particular types of point of view, and I’ve seen them described in multiple ways. However, you lay everything that is essential to know in a succinct and clear way. I’m most grateful.
Ruth, I’m so glad this helped you make sense of POV. It can be a hard aspect of writing to master, especially when you don’t understand how it works.
I have Libby on my cell phone and listened to The Shack three times–the story was that good. Yes, it did use someone’s voice inside of someone’s head, but it worked. Just not too sure what POV it was.
The Shack was an interesting read. I read it ages ago so I can’t speak to its POV.
Great post, Debra. With the novel I am currently writing – a coming-of-age YA story – I am using omniscient in a few paragraphs but then getting back into 3rd person limited. My critique group sees no problem with this as it helps describe the timeline of the story. My favorite POV though is the deep 1st person as in the Reverend G books.
Interesting that you mix the POVS in that way. Obviously you’ve done it in a way that isn’t jarring the reader of the story. Otherwise, I’m sure your critiquers would have said something. I like writing deep first-person myself, but I’m not sure I have a preference in what I read.
I wrote my Soul Reader Series with an omnisient POV. I went between 3rd person limited and an omniscient narrrator. Some editors never mentioned it. One told me I;d have to redo the book. On my latest WIP I hired a developmental fantasy coach and decided to do it in 3rd person limited mainly b/c of reader expectations. I’ve gotten used to it and like it but I’m personally partial to the omniscient narrator. I’m not sure I agree with the use of the 1st person, “I,” being the identifier of the omniscient narrator. I typically use 3rd person.
When it comes to POV, the genre can dictate to a large degree what POV to use. Readers come to expect certain POVs with the genres they read. In the example I used, the I pronoun was a definite indicator of the omni-narrator, but that doesn’t mean it always has to be done that way. The important aspect about it omni-POV is that you can easily distinguish that narrator’s voice and that they project themselves into the story in some way outside of the characters.