Keeping the narrator separate from the character is especially important, because in omniscient, the narrator speaks absolute truth. Like dialogue, Pratchett keeps it to one character per paragraph. You might notice this looks like dialogue without the quotes, and that’s basically how it works. A bunch of incompetents no other secret society would touch with a ten-foot Sceptre of Authority. Let’s look at another snippet from Guards! Guards!. Pratchett, on the other hand, liked to state thoughts more outright. Note that Tolkien is also masterful at showing their mood through description, allowing him to invoke more feeling while staying incredibly distant. He was thinking of the fabled Cracks of Doom and the terror of the Fiery Mountain.īy doing this, Tolkien is able to narrate about both Gandalf and Frodo in the same paragraph without confusing readers. Frodo gazed fixedly at the red embers on the hearth, until they filled all his vision, and he seemed to be looking down into profound wells of fire. His eyes seemed closed, but under the lids he was watching Frodo intently. Gandalf sat down again and puffed at his pipe, as if lost in thought. Tolkien did this quite a bit look at this example from The Fellowship of the Ring. Often, omniscient narrators will refrain from spelling out thoughts altogether, instead summarizing them in the narrator’s own words. If you don’t clearly mark what is character opinion and what is narrator opinion, your narration will confuse readers. Now your narrator is a personality outside of the story. When writing in omniscient, that changes. “she wondered,” or “they felt.” In fact, these labels will damage close narration by adding distance. Close narration doesn’t require labels such as “he thought,” How much they flavor the narration depends on the distance you choose, but with a close distance, it’s easy to dip smoothly into their thoughts. When you’re writing in limited, one of your characters is essentially narrating your story. Clear Attribution of Thoughts and Feelings The lower tension is replaced by higher novelty, and the absurdity offers something to comment on. This dynamic is why light, often absurdist stories are the most natural fit for omniscient. In omniscient, the narrator is free to discuss “proper” behavior for rioters, making the segment humorous instead. Some of it was waving various sharp implements with the up and down motions proper to rioters.Ī writer using limited would focus on how the viewpoint character felt in a tense moment like this, most likely evoking fear or anger. However, not every character is described at this length this was Pratchett’s way of adding emphasis to the moment. I didn’t have to search for this – I randomly opened the book and saw it. It was like watching continental drift in reverse as various subcontinents and islands pulled themselves together to form one massive, angry protowoman. Lady Ramkin drawing herself up haughtily was not a sight to forget, although you could try. This is from Terry Pratchett’s Guards! Guards!. Not just any thought and opinions, but interesting and creative ones. Instead of relaying what happens as though it’s unfolding in front of your eyes, a strong omniscient narrator will add their own thoughts and opinions. To offer a benefit, omniscient must repay this debt with novel commentary. By looking down on events instead of participating in them, omniscience robs the story of immediacy, impact, and tension. The biggest downside of omniscient narration is its distance. Limited is told from the perspective of a viewpoint character, never straying from the character’s experience. This is the opposite of limited narration. They are like a deity that looks on the world from above, seeing the truth of everything but staying distant from it. What is omniscient narration? It’s when the narrator of the story is all-knowing. What do Discworld, Alice in Wonderland, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Lord of the Rings have in common? If you guessed “omniscient narration,” then you’re right, but you also cheated by reading my title. No matter – I will still share the secrets of this powerful but challenging perspective.
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