As my querying journey for my fantasy trilogy continues, I've actually not received much in the way of personal feedback. But I did recently receive one note that said third-person omniscient narrator is a dated writing style that isn't very common anymore. I admittedly tend to read older literature more than recent titles. But most of my favorite books use a third person omniscient narrator. Is this really a mostly dead practice for novels these days? Should I be writing in present third person or first person instead?
On Writing : Novel POV? by Terrence Sellers
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Hi Terrence Sellers, In my humble opinion, I think you should write in the style that's natural to you (and the character). A dated voice can work if the story takes place when it was more common. And, in film, there are no hard and fast rules. One producer will decry "more white space" while another will protest vehemently against it. Third-person omniscient narrators can be super effective, if they are distinct and actually undergo some sort of transformation. For example, The Big Lebowski (Sam Elliott); Amélie (André Dussollier); Shawshank Redemption (Morgan Freeman). While omniscient is less common than limited, it can reinforce themes, shape audience perceptions, enhance engagement, and offer different perspectives. Be true to thine own self!
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Terrence Sellers I loved your website and how you get yourself out there with your own website and tireless querying! I also liked the brief synopsis I read of your trilogy. Amazing work. We should all take a lesson from your journey.
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@Terrence I agree with most answers above. If the point of view of a character “serves” the story best it works. There can be no fashion police in writing, all stories are infinite in variety with no right or wrong way.
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Robin Gregory''s comment is a master-class-in-brief. I can only add "Amen.'"
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I concur with the comments here. Robin Gregory gives a nice detailed answer. In my own experience, it depends on how best to tell the story. Sometimes a first person perspective can be a nice change, especially if it's more of a character study. Second Person narratives are great for "choose your own adventure" style. With my own novel CYBER FIGHTER, as it's based on a feature screenplay, third person omniscient was the best narrative voice for that story.
One thing that I've been wrestling with is changing POV when writing scenes -- that's a challenge too.
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Robin Gregory Thank you for your response. It was very uplifting.
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My pleasure, Terrence Sellers !