When you first sit down to write a novel, there are a couple of big choices you can’t avoid for long. I talked about one of them in a previous blog post: Past and present: How to use the two main narrative tenses correctly. The other is perspective – usually whether you write in first person, third-person limited, or third-person omniscient perspective.
Whether it’s a conscious choice or not – and I’d encourage you to ensure it is! – your choice of perspective can have an enormous impact on your book.
I’ve already looked at first-person perspective, and I’ll explore third-person limited in more detail in future. This blog is all about third-person omniscient…
What is third-person omniscient perspective?
A story written in third-person perspective is one where the narrator is not one of the characters, but relates events are though they are an outside observer – using the characters’ names, or “he”, “she”, “they”, etc. For example:
- Sara closed her eyes and willed the magic to come to her fingertips.
- He looked at them as though they were mad.
- She’s been walking for hours at this point. Her feet are burning.
In third-person omniscient perspective, the narrator has the god-like ability to see and understand all of your characters at all times. They know what your characters are thinking, they know all about your character’s pasts and futures, and they can see things your characters can’t.
Examples:
“She slammed the door behind her. Mina didn’t know it yet, but future historians would one day quibble over the impact of that one decision – choosing to leave, rather than to stay – on the world she left behind.”
In this example, Mina herself can’t possibly know that her decision will be debated in the future. But because the narrator is omniscient, they can make the link between the events that day and the future of the whole world in a way you just wouldn’t be able to if you were writing in first person or third-person limited perspective.
“With little other choice, he handed over the artefact and tried to hide his nervousness as she examined it.
She turned it over in her hands a few times, looking for an inscription. She had seen something like it before. The shape of it, the weight of it in her palms, created an itch in part of her brain that she just couldn’t seem to scratch.”
In this example, third-person omniscient allows the reader to see the thoughts of both of the characters in this scene, rather than just one of them. We know the man is trying to hide something (which the woman character wouldn’t necessarily know just by looking at him) and we know the woman recognises it (which the man in the scene also couldn’t possibly know just from looking at her).
Why choose to write in third-person omniscient perspective?
It’s a classic
From Grimms Fairy Tales to the works of J.R.R Tolkien, the history of fantasy fiction is packed full of omniscient narration. It’s been used in stories for thousands of years, and it’s a fantastic tool for hinting at mysteries even your characters don’t understand – there’s something so fantasy about a phrase like “Little did he know…”! And while third-person omniscient is becoming less popular in modern fiction (more on this below), there are still plenty of modern examples: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune, and The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden to name but a few.
Once upon a time, in a land not so different from our own, a little girl slept on the cold, stone floor of a kitchen in a mighty fortress and dreamt of becoming a witch…
Not limiting yourself to a single perspective
Writing in third-person omniscient means you’re not limited to one perspective or set of knowledge about the world in which your story takes place. It allows you as the writer to add context that none of your characters have access to, and add commentary that your characters wouldn’t be able to add. It means you can speak to the reader about your characters and their actions without the characters themselves ever knowing about it.
Rigby set the great feathered hat at a carefully calculated “jaunty” angle and examined his reflection again. Perfect, he thought. Sadly not many of the people he saw that day shared his assessment. In fact, most of them wondered whether he might have lost some sort of bet… Still, Rigby didn’t know that. He felt good that day, and that was what mattered.
What are the disadvantages of third-person omniscient perspective?
It’s difficult to do well
Third-person omniscient perspective sounds simple, but it’s really quite difficult to do it well. Omniscient narration can very quickly become quite dull and emotionless if it’s too objective or if the narrative simply hops from the head of one character to another relaying to the reader what they’re thinking or doing. It works best when the narrator feels like an additional character themselves – when the narrative text has a distinctive voice (rather than just simply stating facts) and perhaps even a view on what’s happening. Just because the narration is omniscient doesn’t mean it has to be objective!
It’s no longer as popular with readers, especially YA/NA readers:
Third-person limited is now the most dominant perspective in modern fiction. Readers (especially young adult and new adult readers) have become accustomed to the closeness and emotional intimacy it provides, putting them directly in the shoes of the main character or characters. Omniscient perspective hasn’t been completely set aside (as the earlier examples show), but it can make a book difficult to market to these age groups in particular.
What are some common mistakes writers make when writing in third-person omniscient?
Omniscient only when necessary
I often come across books that seem to have become omniscient by necessity at some point, rather than by choice. The vast majority of the text is written in what is effectively third-person limited perspective, from the POV of one or perhaps two main characters. But then there will be two or three small sections where the book strays into actual omniscient perspective – usually because the writer really wants to show the reader something when the POV character is absent or asleep. But these small sections can just end up feeling out of place or confusing. In most cases, I’d suggest sticking to your guns about third-person limited and either accepting that those scenes just don’t fit with that vision, or finding creative ways to give the reader the same information without breaking ranks.
Keeping things superficial
When your narrator can deep dive into what any character is thinking at any time, it can (ironically) be very easy for things to end up feeling quite shallow. When the narrative is anchored to a main character or characters as it would be in first person or third-person limited, every line is infused with their perspective. Objectively, someone might be offering them a glass of water, but to them (and therefore to the reader) that person might be offering them a lifeline, or trying to poison them, or making a peace offering – and the narrative will reflect that. Unless a third-person omniscient narrator also injects a viewpoint on events, the narrative can feel quite cold, distant, and impersonal. And constantly flitting between characters may not give the reader a chance to develop the same closeness they’d feel in the other perspective options.
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