The variations of Third person POVs

I need a few advice regarding character POVs, particularly the distinction between Omniscient vs. Limited third-person POV.

So I have a vague idea of what the two different types of 3rd person POV are, but I guess I'm not really sure what their execution look like. If the story is intended to have an Omniscient view, to what extent could one give to a character's thoughts/perspective toward a particular event? Conversely, how much detail can be written on the surroundings for a supposedly limited POV before it would seem too detached from the viewpoint character?

Subsequently, how does switching between the two types of POV affect the overall quality of the writing, and when do I use one over the other?

Thanks in advance.

Edited by Adept on Feb 18th 2019 at 2:25:38 AM

To quote the late, great Ursula K. LeGuin, omniscient viewpoints free the writer to show what's inside the characters' hearts, that is, aspects of the characters which neither the characters themselves nor others might realize or be willing to reveal, even as viewpoints in third-person limited. She said this in response to a then-recent (and, as far as I can tell, ongoing as of this writing) trend of new fantasy writers hamstringing themselves into making sure each word is dripping with "gutwrenching action", and an apparent fear among these writers to slow down and show off the setting a bit.

Speaking as someone who has been writing exclusively in third-person limited, I would think you should give what works for your story- maybe a bit more if the story is more on the contemplative or low-key side of things. But the line between "too much" and "not enough" can be hard to figure out by yourself without the help of some beta readers.

One tip a beta reader gave me is to focus on what's in the POV's line of sight, and furthermore, what details in their line of sight would be logical for the POV character, as a person, to take notice of. For instance, one of my POV characters was trained as a special kind of sniper, and he's constantly noticing trees, rooftops, ceilings, and lower levels as potential hiding spots and perches. The POV character of The Sarantine Mosaic duology is a mosaicist, and he notices details, mostly colorful ones such as dewy grass sparkling in the morning sun, in the context of what it would be like to recreate those things in a mosaic. This is a great way to add color (metaphorically speaking) to your POV and is one of the big advantages of third-person limited- you get to really climb into someone's head and see what makes them tick.

The degree to which an omniscient POV can climb into a single character's head is not something I've quite figured out, and is something that would probably be best to talk with your betas about, regarding what it would add to your story. You could also try checking out some works on the Multiple Narrative Modes page and study how they do it and whether you think they pull it off.

Ok, bumping this thread because I have a follow-up question, this time regarding multiple/alternating PO Vs.

So, this ties into the application of limited third-person POV when there is more than one view-point character, with each character given distinct "voices" to highlight their personality. The problem is, the personality differences of each character might cause jarring tone shifts in the overall story, and I question how appropriate it is to have a story where, say, one chapter is told from the view-point of a blunt, crass Deadpan Snarker filled with Cluster F-Bomb, then suddenly shift to the eloquent, borderline purple prose POV of a TV Genius in habit of thinking/speaking in Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I primarily write in 3rd-Person POV-switching style, so maybe I can help.

The way I see it is that, because the characters aren't literally narrating their own chapters like in a 1st person work, my writing style doesn't change radically between characters; however, I do realize that each character does bring subtle changes with them. My stressed-out insomniac of a leader thinks a-mile-a-minute, so his chapters are heavily narrative-based and focus mainly on what he's thinking at any given moment, and his chapters are much different from my Deadpan Snarker Lonely Rich Kid, whose narrative is more feeling-and-perception based, and her chapters are different from my shy, quiet farm boy who is more concerned with how those around him are doing and thinking.

I guess my point is, the change in voice doesn't have to be anything major. For my writing, it depends more on how the character thinks and sees the world in their narrative. The writing style doesn't necessarily have to change for the voice to change.