#Third Person Omniscient

[knockyasocksoff2022]

NOTE: I didn't include Third Person Objective because I think most fics and fictional books, in general, are the opposite of objective by their very nature and purpose.

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My personal preference and what inspired this poll:

I usually stick to one narration type per fic. Depending on what the story is, how many characters it deals with and what's going on.

For most fics, I use alternating first person (depending on who the scene is focused on or also to tell the reader something that that particular character would know that another would not) but for @theuntoldoriginsoftheportmafia, I used third-person omniscient because of the sheer number of characters and their complexity.

If the story I'm writing is one that's going to be a little out of character by nature (sickfics, relationship reveals, AUs) then the first person feels fine but, for fics where I feel staying true to the original character is very important, and I'm not sure how they would canonically express thoughts or feelings in the situations I want to put them in, I use third person.

When in first person, I can usually separate pov breaks with chapters depending on how long a scene is. So, chapters will vary in length, but if the pov is short enough, I'll put multiple in the same chapter because I don't love the idea of super short chapters (I'm used to posting on Wattpad). I do this to keep the story flowing, like how the camera in film and television changes focus on certain people at different times during a scene. I may do a poll about this later.

I've only ever stayed in one person's POV for the entire time in one fic. it was Chuuya for my fic More Than You Know, and even then, it's not done, so we might get some Dazai pov towards the end.

That brings us to another point. Dazai's character is so complex that if I'm trying to portray him in a close-to-canon way (as in character as possible), then I prefer the third-person for the risk of seeming OOC if I do first. IDK if that's just me or not. For this one-shot, I entered with a third-person pov of Dazai and kept the rest as the first person with Chuuya. And I also did it for the first two chapters of my RANPOE!!! On ICE AU (It's only on Wattpad, at the moment.)

This is so interesting to me and I'm so curious about what people prefer. Feel free to give the reason for your preference in the tags.

[tildeathiwillwrite]

The Room

Whumptober Day 4 HALLUCINATIONS | Hypnosis | Sensory Deprivation | “You're still alive in my head.”

Whumptober Day 8 SLEEP DEPRIVATION | Isolation Chamber | Forced to Stay Awake | "Leave the lights on."

Whumptober Prompts List | Masterpost

Fandom: Original Work

Words: 800

Tag List: @fourwingedsnake @whumperofworlds @pigeonwhumps @mr-orion @scaewolf

@the-ellia-west

CW: omniscient narrator, sensory deprivation, isolation lab whump, noncon drugging, observation, hallucinations, fear, running, collapse, crying

A/N: This is certainly the month for experimentation for me, especially experimentation with viewpoints.

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The room was dark.

And silent.

It was neither warm nor cold.

It smelled like nothing.

Felt like nothing.

By all observations from the outside, the room was just that: a room. Perhaps it could have once been a living room, a bedroom, or a dining room. A room given purpose with lights and furniture and people smiling and laughing and crying.

It was none of those things. The walls have been padded, corners rounded in such a way as to create the illusion of an endless room. The temperature has been carefully regulated, remaining twenty-one degrees Celsius, or seventy degrees Fahrenheit. The light fixtures were long ago removed, and the door is impossible to find by touch.

The room was occupied by a single person. A young man, freshly twenty-seven, dressed in light, loose, airy clothing that does not belong to him. His head was shaved before he was left in the room. Better results that way. So the people who constructed the room discovered.

The young man was asleep when placed into the room. What he was dreaming about, the people who administered the drugs couldn't say. In most subjects, the drugs provided a deep, dreamless sleep, an unresponsive subject, the perfect candidate for a multitude of experiments. Sometimes the subjects did dream. But that was unimportant to the experiment.

And so the young man awoke in darkness, lying on his back in a room that he knew he hadn't gone to sleep in. A spike of fear prompted him to sit up, looking around wildly, waving his hand in front of his face.

"Hello?" He called softly, unsure if he was allowed to disturb the silence.

The room absorbed the noise immediately. He might as well have not spoken at all.

He tried again. "Is anyone there?"

His voice didn't echo. The sound was gone the moment the words left his lips.

The padding on the floor was barely noticeable under the young man's feet when he stood and began to walk, arms outstretched. His footsteps made no sound. When his hand finally made contact with the wall, he was surprised at how similarly unremarkable the wall felt.

He ran both hands over it, but that didn't change how the wall, though it was certainly there, was almost indistinguishable from the air. For all he knew, it could have been air turned solid. He certainly couldn't see well enough to tell the difference.

Keeping one hand on the wall, the young man turned and began to walk. Outside the room, the people observing his behavior watched with rapt attention, eyes both on him and the monitors displaying his brain activity, provided by the sensors surgically placed under his skin. Less danger of the subject removing them either accidentally or purposefully.

The walls of the room had been altered to have a slight curve invisible to the human senses. The room itself was massive in its own right, but to a subject within its confines, following the wall, it appeared to go on for eternity.

Hopelessness set in after only an hour of walking. The young man paused, hand still firmly on the wall, and glanced back, as if his currently-useless eyes would tell him how far he had come. Outwardly, his jaw tightened, and his free hand twitched. The brainwaves visible on the monitor for the observers, however, were spiking significantly, betraying how his mind was racing, trying to find a logical solution when, with his limited knowledge, there wasn't one.

The young man sank to the ground, back against the wall, staring blankly ahead. He remained there for some time, perfectly still, his brain activity calming, until suddenly it spiked again. His head snapped to the side, eyes narrowed, as if trying to see something in the complete darkness of the room.

Of course, there was nothing there.

Not in the room, at least.

But, as observed by the young man's reaction and the brain activity on the monitors, he certainly believed otherwise. His eyes widened, and he sprang to his feet and began to run, hand still on the wall. The readings on the monitors were spiking dramatically, reaching higher and higher. The observers murmured to each other, some writing down notes, others leaning forward as if closer proximity to the subject would yield better results.

The young man was visibly panicking by now. His eyes were wide, his skin clammy and pale, his breathing fast and shallow. He ran.

And ran.

And ran.

But he could not escape.

Could never escape.

Could never outrun the thing in his head that was chasing him.

He finally collapsed, his legs becoming like jelly beneath his weight. Tears ran down his cheeks and soaked into the room's padded floor as he curled up into the fetal position, murmuring feeble protests that none but the room could hear and absorb.

"No…."

"No please…."

"Please… mercy…."

"Please… I beg you… please have mercy…."

But there was no mercy to be had.

[nuttysaladtree]

WWX's third-person limited this, MDZS narrator's third-person omniscient that, I don't even go to this school—where's my free indirect speech at?

[adrianlookatthis]

Unpopular opinion:

I LOVE head-hopping points of view in stories.

I love reading them.

I love writing them.

This is a hill I will die on.

[the960writers]

So I'm plotting out a story that I would like to write 3rd person omniscient, but I have very little experience with writing that pov. Mostly I've done 3rd person limited to one pov or 1st person. Do you have any helpful tips to help a brother out? I'd like to know the secret to make it seamless.

Hello friend!

I'm also a third person limited writer, my only experience with omniscient is reading old fantasy books. I had a look around in my #POV tag, and this post points out the most important thing:

Guide: Head Hopping and How to Avoid It

I think the problem with omniscient can be for one, the head hopping, and for two, it can feel quite removed and impersonal.

Since you're used to writing limited third person, an alternative that might be more suitable could be writing in limited but with multiple POVs. So you'll have one chapter from character A's perspective, and another chapter from character B's perspective and so on. As long as you have clear breaks between the perspectives, like chapter breaks, it will not turn into head hopping but it'll give you intimate connections with your different characters.

Hope this helps!

[telemna-hyelle]

the eternal struggle of trying to figure out if i am just bad at writing in third person omniscient, or if people just don’t realize i’m writing in it because it’s not a popular narrative viewpoint and edit me based on the assumption i’m writing in third person limited

[thestayathomedragon]

Ya know I've started to realize something reading fan fic by a few much younger author's, I think they have forgot there is more than one version of Third Person POV. I think some of them genuinely thing they have to write a chapter more than once from different points of view when third person omniscient is an actual thing.

[wolfythoughts]

Book Review: Pray for a Brave Heart by Helen MacInnes

A 1950s spy novel written by a woman that intermixes early Iron Curtain fears and post-WWII concerns about missing Nazi loot. Summary:It was 1953, and nothing could shake Bill Denning’s resolve to leave the army and return to the States. Nothing, except one of the largest diamond hauls ever – which, in the wrong hands, on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, was a potentially lethal force. In a…

[captainofthenautilus]

the third-person omniscient

you're up in EVERYONE'S business. somehow, you're not actually a character in this story at all, but instead an outside observer, seeing things from everyone's perspective and getting their take on the situation. who the audience chooses to side with is no concern of yours; you're merely here to present the facts as you see them. you can see the value in hearing many different sides of the same story, and have found that the truth often lies in the middle.

i literally cannot stop. will reblog with the link once i’m done.

[mandyraine]

What is point of view in fiction? | Revise and Refine

Challenge: read this post and tell me which point of view it was written in!

Point of view (POV) refers to the perspective from which a story is told in fiction writing. It determines whose thoughts, feelings, and experiences are being shared with the reader. Consistent POV in fiction plays a crucial role in shaping the reader’s experience by providing clarity and enhancing immersion in the story. In third person limited point of view, the reader only knows what the POV…

[bloseroseone]

The Power of Third-Person Omniscient in Storytelling

Human culture has always been fundamentally based on storytelling. It’s how we amuse ourselves, pass on customs, and exchange stories. The narrative perspective is one of the most exciting parts of storytelling, and third-person omniscient stands out among the other forms for its particular potency and adaptability.

Understanding Third-Person Omniscient

The third-person omniscient narrative style, in which the narrator is fully aware of all the characters and events, is a potent storytelling device. With this point of view, the reader can fully comprehend the story as the narrator shares the motivations, ideas, and feelings of every character. 

Third-person Omniscient provides readers with a godlike perspective, exposing hidden subtleties and opposing points of view in contrast to other perspectives. 

This facilitates the development of a deep, multi-layered story that can examine intricate relationships and themes. Writers can create a more complex and captivating tale world and improve the reading experience for readers by utilizing third-person omniscient.

Key Characteristics

Unlimited Knowledge: The narrator has complete access to the inner workings of every character.

Flexibility: The narrative can shift focus from one character to another seamlessly.

Broad Scope: The narrator can provide information and context beyond the immediate scenes.

History of Third Person-Omniscient Narration

Early Examples

Since ancient times, the use of third-person omniscient narration has been a potent storytelling technique. Classic literature uses this narrative form, in which the narrator is fully aware of the people and the happenings.

Some of the earliest instances are seen in Homer’s “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey,” where the narrator sheds light on the motivations and ideas of a wide range of characters. Similar to this, the narrator in Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy” is fully aware of all the characters and the environment.

These early examples of third-person omniscient narration demonstrate how well it can tell intricate, multifaceted stories that delve deeply into the inner lives of the characters.

Evolution Over Time

Over time, there has been a major evolution in the usage of third-person omniscient narrative. Third-person omniscient was a common choice in the early days of narrative, particularly in classic literature like the works of Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy.

Authors were able to provide readers a complete picture of the plot, including the emotions and ideas of various characters, by using this narrative technique. As literature developed into the contemporary era, authors started experimenting with narrower viewpoints....Continue reading

[ancientroyalblood]

Navigating Point of View: Choosing the Right Perspective for Your Story

The narrative perspective you choose for your story is like the lens through which your readers view the world you’ve created. It shapes their connection to characters, their understanding of events, and the overall experience of your narrative. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the world of narrative perspectives, exploring the different options available to writers and helping them make…

[junobabeinthewild]

More decisions to be made

[local-bug-boy]

third person omniscient my beloved

[lemon-bars1]

"The End?"

And so it was foretold, the universe ends, all of reality collapses. A quiet voice speaks from behind your mind, "Administrator privileges granted"

You find nothing, you see nothing, smell nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing... that's not quite true. you feel like your nonexistent body is grasping onto something. being your only input you decide to pull it towards your "self" and the nothingness is now a 'something' you feel warm. You see a small bead of light. "Huh?" as you think it shifts and glows. You shape and twist it, yourself, and now you see through your new eye. into nothing, endless empty energy. moving your new, arm out you try and feel, finding that something within the nothing. Something happens, it gets hot, and your new form disappears. you can no longer see, just feel. and you feel a lot. as you feel millions of small subatomic things shifting through and around you.

[orion-nottson]

i am power and authority. i am law and order. i am the righteous hand of god and the scourge and the sword. i am legion. (i wrote in third person omniscient)