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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
3rd person omniscient vs. limited question
Hi teachers. As I read more articles about pov, I am getting more confused. If you only have one character in a scene and we follow this one character on her adventure, is it okay to still write in 3rd person ominscience?
Like...
"Sarah moved down the long hallway and she could feel her heart racing with each step. She had hit her head earlier and a fresh bruise was now forming on her face that was drained of all colors."
After reading so many articles, I got confused because some people say that you should stick with 3rd person limited. And what if Sarah meets another character in the scene?
"Mark knew Sarah was uneasy from the way she looked at him. He was a very cruel and manipulative man who enjoyed inducing fear in others."
If that is still from Sarah's perspective and those sentences just describes the man she meets, Mark, is it ok for Sarah to know all that information abotu Mark? I assume it's ok if it's in 3rd person omniscient, but then again, if there is only 1 character in a scene, I want to know if you can even use 3rd person omniscient or you should stick with 3rd person limited.
Thank you so much teachers! I hope somebody can help me. I am a bit lost right now.
Like...
"Sarah moved down the long hallway and she could feel her heart racing with each step. She had hit her head earlier and a fresh bruise was now forming on her face that was drained of all colors."
After reading so many articles, I got confused because some people say that you should stick with 3rd person limited. And what if Sarah meets another character in the scene?
"Mark knew Sarah was uneasy from the way she looked at him. He was a very cruel and manipulative man who enjoyed inducing fear in others."
If that is still from Sarah's perspective and those sentences just describes the man she meets, Mark, is it ok for Sarah to know all that information abotu Mark? I assume it's ok if it's in 3rd person omniscient, but then again, if there is only 1 character in a scene, I want to know if you can even use 3rd person omniscient or you should stick with 3rd person limited.
Thank you so much teachers! I hope somebody can help me. I am a bit lost right now.
Top answer
It is the writer's choice whether to go with the limited 3rd-person view or the omniscient. In your example with Mark, it's clearly not from Sarah's perspective. She can't tell his thoughts.
- It is the writer's choice whether to go with the limited 3rd-person view or the omniscient.
- In your example with Mark, it's clearly not from Sarah's perspective.
- She can't tell his thoughts.
- By saying what Mark knew, you have moved away from Sarah's thoughts.
- If you want to keep with limited 3rd-person POV and keep this sense, you can write something like: Sarah tried to control her features, guarding her expression to keep Mark from sensing how uneasy he made her.
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1 Answers
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It is the writer's choice whether to go with the limited 3rd-person view or the omniscient.
In your example with Mark, it's clearly not from Sarah's perspective. She can't tell his thoughts. By saying what Mark knew, you have moved away from Sarah's thoughts.
If you want to keep with limited 3rd-person POV and keep this sense, you can write something like:
Sarah tried t
In your example with Mark, it's clearly not from Sarah's perspective. She can't tell his thoughts. By saying what Mark knew, you have moved away from Sarah's thoughts.
If you want to keep with limited 3rd-person POV and keep this sense, you can write something like:
Sarah tried t
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