When it comes to writing, choosing the right point of view can significantly impact on your story. While first and third person perspectives are the most common, another option is the omniscient point of view.
This latter point of view can add depth and complexity to your writing.
Before I dive into the ten pros of omniscient POV, what is it?
Omniscient point of view is a narrative technique where the author has complete knowledge and insight into the thoughts, feelings, and actions of all characters in the story.
This knowledge allows the author to provide a broader perspective and delve into the minds of multiple characters rather than just one.
10 PROS TO USING THE OMNISCIENT POV
1. Authorial Voice
By far, the omniscient POV’s biggest plus is its ability to establish a strong authorial voice. You can add your personality since you, the author, have complete control over the narrative.
Writing elements like style, word choices, tone, and sentence structure make the story unique. This choice of POV can add depth and personality to the writing, making it more engaging for the reader.
2. Multiple Perspectives
With omniscient point of view, you can switch between different characters' perspectives, giving the reader a multifaceted understanding of the story.
It’s like ten people witnessing an accident; you’ll get ten different perspectives.
And as the reader is privy to information that the characters may not be aware of, it creates an intimacy between the reader and the story.
One thing to watch for when switching perspectives it that the reader must be aware that the perspective is changing or has changed.
It’d be advisable to change perspective at a chapter break, or if that won’t work, at least at a section break.
You don’t want to slam on the brakes and have the reader hurled into a new perspective, dazed, possibly lost, and most likely annoyed.
3. Character Development
Omniscient point of view allows for more in-depth character development by delving into the thoughts and feelings of multiple characters. The reader can gain a deeper understanding of each character's motivations and inner struggles, making them more relatable and complex.
4. World Building
Since you have complete knowledge of the story's world, you can provide detailed descriptions and explanations that can enhance the reader's understanding and immersion in the story.
This reader understanding can be especially useful in fantasy or science fiction genres where the world may differ significantly from our own.
5. Time and Place
With Omniscient point of view, time and place become flexible. You can easily transition between scenes with different locations and time without breaking the flow of the narrative.
It will also provide a more comprehensive view of the story's events.
This is one plus I had recently thought about when a rewrite client with a young adult story decided to switch third party limited POV to omniscient. The ability to transition between time and place will work well for the story.
6. Emotional Impact
Omniscient point of view can strengthen the emotional impact on the reader by delving into the thoughts and feelings of multiple characters.
The reader can experience the story through the eyes of different characters, making it more personal and engaging allowing for a deeper connection.
7. Humor
With the ability to inject your own voice and explore multiple perspectives, omniscient point of view can also add humor to a story.
You can use your own wit and remarks to add comedic elements to the narrative.
8. Helps Avoid Info Dumping
With an omniscient POV, there is much less chance of information dumping, as story descriptions and explanations come from different characters.
9. Showing
Using multiple perspectives in omniscient POV, there is less need to tell what’s going on. The situation can be shown through the different characters.
10. Flexibility
Unlike first person or third person, omniscient point of view allows for more flexible storytelling.
You can focus on one character's perspective for a chapter and then switch to another character's perspective in the next. Using this technique can add variety and give the reader different views of the same situation or scene, helping to keep the reader engaged.
Summing It Up
Omniscient point of view offers lots of benefits for writers looking to add depth and complexity to their storytelling.
I’m jumping into this POV with a client’s story. Have you tried using this technique in your writing?
Let us know in the comments below.
I’m a working children’s ghostwriter, rewriter, editor, and coach. I can help turn your story into a book you’ll be proud to be the author of, one that’s publishable and marketable.
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