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Topic : Re: How to limit 3rd Person Omniscient without losing depth to your other characters? My writing group lately has been harrowing me to stop using 3rd Person Omniscient perspective and use 3rd Person - selfpublishingguru.com

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First answer: In broad terms, I think the ANSWER is to try to appreciate the strength of story if the POV character does not know what the other characters know. It opens up possibilities that aren't available in omniscient, like the PoV character (and the reader) needing to figure things out.
For example: If a character seems shifty one minute and genuine the next, and we don't know which of these is true because we aren't in omniscient perspective, and the POV character doesn't know either, that's interesting. It creates suspense.
Second answer: From a mechanical perspective, the ANSWER is: simply change each line so that it is only what the POV character knows. (a) Use words like 'seemed' if you want to inform the reader what another character is feeling, and (b) convert some thoughts to dialog.
Example: Yujin's POV:

YÅ«jin picked up his pace, moving even faster than before. (you can
add a reason here and gain depth, eg if they didn't make
the village by midday (bad thing would happen). (That is a motivation, and an internal feeling for Yujin.) Juko seemed irritated
by that, but the boy ought to be able to keep up; he had long enough
legs.
Sōan was straggling behind. "Hurry up," Yujin called.
"Slow down," she called back. "It's like you aren't human."
Was she huffing now? At least she was trying.
She said to herself, but loudly enough that he could hear, “C’mon Soan… We can’t
let… those boys… beat us… can we?”
Yujin shook his head, he had no time for her dawdling. The distance between
them increased.

Edit: Here is a blog post link that explains advantages of 3rd omniscient vs 3rd limited.


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