The mental image I had of Lisbeth Salander as I read The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo looked nothing like the girl on this book cover. I saw her vividly though, as clearly as if she were sitting across from me, riding downtown in the same subway car. Author Stieg Larsson did a wonderful job describing her appearance, and his characterizations were strong. So why didn't I ever feel a sense of intimacy with her?
I think the problem was Larsson's use of omniscient narration. When more than one character's inner thoughts and feelings are coming at me from the same page, I feel like I'm floating above the book. It's like watching the scenes unfold shoulder-to-shoulder with God, rather than from out the eyes of a character. Lisbeth Salander was a character I wanted badly to connect with, but I never really got there. Too many POVs stood between us.
My favorite books employ multiple POVs, but their success hinges on the fact that the authors allowed only one character-narrator per chapter. "The Witching Hour" by Anne Rice comes to mind. Rice shares the POV between several characters, two of which are central players Michael Curry and Rowan Mayfair. As each chapter filters through the perspective of one of these characters, the reader develops a strong, intimate bond with him or her. After reading that book, I felt closely connected to all the characters.
I've never attempted omniscient narration in my own writing. My short stories tend to be third person limited or first person narration. The novel I'm working on switches POV at the beginning of each new chapter.
What POV narration options do you prefer to write in?
10 comments:
Hi Nicole - thanks for visiting my blog. Did you make it to 50,000 during NaNoWriMo? How exciting. I'm too chicken to try.
I prefer first person POV but am using third limited to the main female character for my current WIP. It is really hard to switch after so many first person stories.
Hi Jenna~
Yes -- I hit 50,113 words by the week of Thanksgiving, but then family arrived from out of town and stayed through the end of the month. I learned a lot about the process from the experience, since the short story has been my comfort zone up to now.
Best of luck working on your project in third person limited. Thanks so much for stopping by!
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Hello Michele pianetatempolibero
So, dear Nicole you enjoyed in the end reading this book! Kind Regards!
i use 3rd person almost exclusively, though i have tried first person (i find it too easy, and kind cheap? i don't know if that makes sense).
Third person allows me to have 3-4 POV characters in a novel, which i find neccessary for my plot lines.
I should probably mess around in another POV to stretch the writing muscles a bit...
Hi Philip! Thanks for stopping in!
Hello Falen~ It's so nice of you to read and comment :) I'm with you on third person narration; I think it's the most versatile for storytelling. The novel I'm working on is in third person and switches between two POVs.
I posed this same question in my blog on Writing.com and a member of that community told me she once wrote a novel in first person, but with four POVs. I like that idea because you can explore how different people interpret and react to a single event, based on each individual's perspective and life experiences. I've got to say, I'm inspired by this idea...
Thanks for stopping in!
~Nicole~
I've always loved the omniscient POV, but it's not popular these days, so I don't use it. I like to mix up my style, so I've used third person limited and first person. First is my favorite to read, though.
Hi KM~
Omniscient is very cool when done well, and frustrating as all get-out when not. :))
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Another problem for me with this one is that fact that it took over a hundred pages to get going. I did like it in the end though. I thought the second one was better, but could have done without the boob job.
I haven't read the third one yet.
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