Okay, I'm not sure if the fic I'm writing right now is in omniscient POV or just from River's POV, but I suppose there isn't all that much difference, is there?
I think there is a difference but I'm struggling to articulate what that might be, though I think the obvious point would be that an omniscient narrator's knowledge (can be) is organized according to some logic that's not neccessarily present with River's knowledge; I think there's also an aspect of forknowledge that (can be) is part of an omni-narrator's knowledge, but really I'm just struggling with digging in and really defining narration, which I've been puzzling over for a couple of days, since author != narrator != character (unless the narrator is a character), and both the author and the narrator impose story upon events in a way that most characters don't.
I also think omniscient third-person narrators usually become characters, themselves, because straight omniscience is just impossible to convey; there must be some order, bias, etc, and that bias becomes the seed of a new perspective that's just as blind in its way as limited-third.
Must clean room now. Ick. Happy Sunday, though! :)
Well, your omniscient narrators become characters, and wonderfully and bneautifully so, and I love that about your fics. But I'm not sure that it necessarily happens in any meaningful way--yes, the narrator in a Tom Clancy novel is imposing order/bias, but the mock-objectivity doesn't really draw attention to itself.
And I think that's really what is at stake at here--River's presence means I can't head-jump in the middle of a scene without drawing attention to the shift the way I would if I suddenly switched from being in Kaylee's head to being in Inara's. It's not really a question of constructing a coherent overall voice, although in another fic I could totally do that and it'd be cool.
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Date: 2006-07-09 05:46 pm (UTC)I also think omniscient third-person narrators usually become characters, themselves, because straight omniscience is just impossible to convey; there must be some order, bias, etc, and that bias becomes the seed of a new perspective that's just as blind in its way as limited-third.
Must clean room now. Ick. Happy Sunday, though! :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-10 12:05 am (UTC)And I think that's really what is at stake at here--River's presence means I can't head-jump in the middle of a scene without drawing attention to the shift the way I would if I suddenly switched from being in Kaylee's head to being in Inara's. It's not really a question of constructing a coherent overall voice, although in another fic I could totally do that and it'd be cool.