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Post by firebird on Feb 21, 2022 6:14:11 GMT -6
Before I pose the question, I want to say that I have read tons on POV. Mine will be a 3rd Person Omniscient POV.
The story takes place in a very small village that is being terrorised by the antagonist. A new resident (protagonist) comes to town with the goal to defeat the Antagonist. Pretty straightforward right except for one thing that is driving me crazy.
For most chapters/scenes, my MC is in the room and I can see things from his pov.
My other chapters/scenes (50%) take place in various other locations of the village often in bars, restaurants and in characters' homes in the village where the protagonist is NOT physically present.
Here's my main question: Can I write chapters /scenes where the MC is not around and others are present/talking etc?
Its done in movies ofcourse, but not sure if this is okay in novels. Thanks for your replies.
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Post by RAVENEYE on Feb 21, 2022 10:52:22 GMT -6
Ah, yes! If your goal is to write 3rd Omniscient, then any character gets to be the POV character for the scene involved, even if your protag is not present. As long as each scene has ONE SINGLE POV character, then no one will accuse you of head-hopping or whatever. And, honestly, if you're writing DISTANT Omniscient, the POV can come from no character at all, but from some god-like outside perspective, namely "author as narrator" instead of "character as narrator," in which you, who knows everything, lets the reader in on secrets and hints and foreshadowing that the characters themselves do not know.
A particular novel comes to mind that I read a couple years ago, in which for one single chapter, the author chose an inanimate object to be the POV character. A satchel containing a precious clue to a crime. A satchel as a POV character?! The protags were all dead by this point (the satchel was found a century later) It was so strange, yet worked so well. It was very daring on the author's part, and obviously, I've never forgotten it.
Point is, your protagonist does not need to be present in every scene for Omniscient POV to work in a credible way.
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Post by pelwrath on Feb 21, 2022 12:00:46 GMT -6
Absolutely you can and should. It’s a way to develop the antagonist and other characters. Give the reader a dive into their mind set. Describe the town, it’s history. You could have the antagonist talk about the protagonist. If they don’t know each other, maybe he knew the hero’s daddy. Something from the antagonists POV.
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Post by firebird on Mar 5, 2022 5:52:49 GMT -6
Does anyone have in mind examples of a book that follows what I have posted in the OP ?
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Post by RAVENEYE on Mar 5, 2022 9:23:17 GMT -6
Does anyone have in mind examples of a book that follows what I have posted in the OP ? Honestly, just about any novel that is NOT written in 1st person will have POV switches between characters. Let's see, you're wanting 3rd Omniscient, so that means the reader getting to know things the characters don't (yet) know. I Googled "books with 3rd person omniscient" and got this great list that spans several genres: Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (1813) ... Stardust - Neil Gaiman (1997) ... Beartown - Fredrik Backman (2017) ... The Bear and the Nightingale - Katherine Arden (2017) ... Little Women - Louisa May Alcott (1868) ... Dune - Frank Herbert (1965) The list comes from this blog post where each POV is described in a little more detail, with example passages from the books: www.aplaceofintent.co.uk/blog/8-examples-and-excerpts-of-third-person-omniscient-point-of-view-in-fictionHope it's useful!
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