Omniscient means that the narrator - implicit or explicit - knows things the characters don't and puts them on the page, often with comment. Good omniscient is a joy to read; sloppy omniscient comes across as headhopping (though genre Romance seems not to mind it at all).
Many tight viewpoints ('multiple third') doth not omni make.
There's also first person omniscient, which happens in the form of 'as someone told me later, back at the ranch' - it's first person, but told after the fact, and putting in events the character didn't know at the time, or including 'I was stupid enough to believe this at the time' etc.
Personally I feel that doing omni well is difficult - you need to build the narrating personality, at least in your own head, and keep it consistent - and there's more to keep in mind. It's probably best suited to writers who have a very strong voice.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
zvi and
no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 09:51 pm (UTC)Many tight viewpoints ('multiple third') doth not omni make.
There's also first person omniscient, which happens in the form of 'as someone told me later, back at the ranch' - it's first person, but told after the fact, and putting in events the character didn't know at the time, or including 'I was stupid enough to believe this at the time' etc.
Personally I feel that doing omni well is difficult - you need to build the narrating personality, at least in your own head, and keep it consistent - and there's more to keep in mind. It's probably best suited to writers who have a very strong voice.