Helpful Hints, Tips, and Tricks

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We are going a little deeper into the 3rd person perspective. There are two ways you can use the 3rd person, and they are very different. The types of 3rd person are omniscient and limited.

Omniscient is where the narrator knows all the thoughts and feelings of every single character. There is no bias in omniscient, and there is full knowledge of all the characters. This is the most trustworthy point of view because the all-knowing viewpoint is relaying the story. This makes it easy to give supporting details about everything. However, there are negatives to omniscient. If the character is human, the reader can only know what is observable about the character. Other characters will have to express themselves to the storyteller. One example of 3rd person omniscient is the Harry Potter series.

Limited third person is where the reader only knows the thoughts and feelings of one single character. Other characters are presented externally. This is where you can showcase the story through an interesting character. The character could also experience changes throughout the novel. An example of the limited perspective is Ernest Hemingway's book "For Whom The Bell Toils."

The 3rd person perspective is the main point of view used by writers. It shows more than 1st person would.