Omniscient POV: Pitfalls and Best Practices

A surprising number of first novels land on my desk as an editor that are written in omniscient point of view. I say surprising because I find it by far the most complicated POV to get right—and it has largely fallen out of favor. Contemporary readers tend to crave a more direct and immersive experience which is best accomplished with close third or first-person POV.

That doesn’t mean you should never write in omniscient, but the decision should be intentional rather than default, and it should not be made lightly.

So, why (or why not) choose omniscient? If omniscient really is the right choice for your novel, what’s the best way to handle it? And what should you guard against?

The Case for Omniscient Narration

Whom you select to tell your story is one of the most important choices you can make, because that is the person your reader will connect with. In close third or first person, the narrator is usually (though not always) the protagonist—or in the case of multiple third, the narration switches between co-protagonists.

However, in traditional omniscient narration, the narrator is a separate entity, standing outside the story looking in (or down) on everything that’s going on. This narrator has access to all the information in the story: every character’s thoughts, and every action that takes place in every part of the story world. The narrator can be a known entity, like Death in The Book Thief, or it can be unknown (or unnamed), like the voice that narrates Everything I Never Told You.

Depending on the type of story you’re writing, this approach might be exactly what you want. Sometimes you need that bird’s-eye view. It’s hard to imagine a sweeping novel like Middlemarch functioning without it. And George Eliot gives her narrator a distinct voice and personality which helps guard against one of the chief reasons you might not want to use omniscient: the distance it creates. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Omniscient narration can also allow for dramatic irony because it puts the reader in the position of knowing more than the characters. This is essential for a novel like Everything I Never Told You where what is withheld is a key element in the tragedy but the only person who can fully appreciate it is the reader.

The Case Against It

Did I mention distance? That’s one of the biggest pitfalls with omniscience: it keeps readers at arm’s length, a place most of us no longer want to be. Most readers are looking for a deeper connection with the narrator. They like that close experience of being in the narrator’s head, looking at the world through their eyes and from their perspective.

Omniscience also makes it far easier to tell than show, which I suspect is one reason new writers favor it. Showing is hard. Having a literal storyteller explain things to the reader makes the job that much easier, but it doesn’t necessarily make for strong writing.

But perhaps the most persuasive argument against omniscient narration is the challenge of doing it without resorting to head-hopping. The difference between the two is subtle but important. In omniscient narration, the reader has the sense that someone is in control of the story. Even though omniscience allows access to any character’s thoughts or direct experience, there is a narrator making those decisions and controlling the show, much like the conductor of an orchestra telling the musicians when they can come in and when they must keep quiet.

Head-hopping lacks that control, which is why it can feel, well, noisy. The reader is forced to jump from one character’s head to another’s without any warning—sometimes even within the same sentence. It creates confusion and can feel quite dislocating. Mostly what it feels like is a series of random decisions. That essential intentionality that allows the reader to feel like they’re in good hands is absent. In fact, it feels like there’s no narrator at all, and we are instead at the mercy of the author’s whim, being thrown from one instance of close third POV to another without any sense that there’s an external perspective somewhere, tying it all together.

If you’ve chosen omniscient narration and are getting negative feedback on it, try deep third or first person and see if it makes a difference. It will, of course. What you need to decide is if you like the difference and if you and your critique partners see it as an improvement. Most of the time, it is.

Best Practices for Omniscient Narration

If you’ve already asked yourself the hard questions about whether your story really needs an omniscient narrator, then your first order of business is to decide who this narrator is and what they will sound like. That voice should remain consistent all the way through—which is one way omniscient narration distinguishes itself from multiple third, where the voice changes with the narrator.

Will they speak directly to the reader like the narrator in Middlemarch, or will they work behind the scenes like the one in Everything I Never Told You?

And speaking of those novels, it might be a good idea to read them—or others like them, where omniscient narration is well handled and doesn’t feel chaotic.

Also, consider whose heads the omniscient narrator will access. That access should be relatively limited. Just because an omniscient narrator has the freedom to know what everyone is thinking doesn’t mean the reader should be hearing from the postman, the barista, and the uncle no one likes. Giving free access to random minor characters is bound to contribute to the chaos you’re trying to avoid.

Much of omniscient narration’s success comes down to keeping the story under control. Thinking again of the orchestra, a minor instrument like the contrabassoon shouldn’t be getting a solo unless it has something important to say.

In Conclusion

A story can be told in many ways, but there’s usually one choice that makes the most sense. Choose your POV intentionally. Experiment with different options, see which one feels right, and then pray your critique partners agree.

Summary for busy writers: Omniscient POV should be an intentional choice that makes sense for the novel rather than a fallback because it seems “easier.” Here are some reasons for and against that choice, along with strategies for the effective use of this POV.

Want help figuring out the best POV for your story? Check out this tutorial for understanding point of view for examples and common problems to avoid.