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IWW
Practice-W Exercise Archives
Exercise: Omniscient point of view (Version 5)
These exercises were written
by IWW members
and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its
members.
You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that
you found
them at the Internet Writers Workshop
(http://www.internetwritingworkshop.org/).
Prepared by: Patricia Johnson
Posted on: September 21, 2003
Reposted on: July 11, 2005
Revised and reposted on: Oct 7, 2007
Reposted on: November 29, 2009
Revised and reposted on: May 1, 2011
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Exercise: In 400 words or less, shift the point of view (POV) between two characters within a single scene.
Make the transitions between characters seamless, and let the narrator's voice show.
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This exercise requires you to be omniscient, to be in the head of more than one character at a time--indeed,
even to know more than both characters put together.
This can be tricky. The narrator can reveal everything about the characters, action, places, and events,
regardless of what specific people know. The author can enter every character's thoughts, unlike in the more
commonly used third person limited POV, where the narrative is told from one particular character's viewpoint.
Sometimes an author lapses into omniscient POV unintentionally while writing in limited POV.
Omniscient POV can lead to confusion if not done well. The author has to move seamlessly from one character's
view to another, and orchestrate the narrative voice to avoid a tangle of information that seems to come from
everywhere at once.
Here is an example of omniscient POV:
Robert thought it odd that his supervisor was waiting in his office. He bent over his secretary's desk and
said, "Audrey, run the mail down right now, please." Robert was always one for covering bases, and sending
his secretary out on an errand would insure she could not hear what was about to take place.
*Note that we read Robert's thoughts and also read the author's comment that Robert covers bases. This moves
the focus away from Robert and eases us into a transition to the secretary's POV:
Audrey was tired of being sent away from her desk so frequently. "Sure, Robert," she said. "I just took the
mail two hours ago, though." She left the office, walking slowly. It was obvious enough to anyone that Robert
was in trouble. What made her angry was the way Robert would send her out of the room, as if that would hide
the problems between him and his boss.
*We see the scene from both Robert's and Audrey's POV, including the narrator's observations-- omniscient POV.
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Exercise: In 400 words or less, shift the point of view (POV) between two characters within a single scene.
Make the transitions between characters seamless, and let the narrator's voice show.
_____________________
Critique by noting whether the transitions worked smoothly. Was the viewpoint fully omniscient? Was there
evidence that the author was inside the head of both characters?
Web site created by
Rhéal Nadeau and
the administrators of the Internet Writing Workshop.
Modified by Gayle Surrette.
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