: Re: POV - 3rd Person Rules and Exceptions? I'm stuck on a POV question in a short story I'm writing. The entire story is written in 3rd Person, but not omniscient - I guess it's either "distant

@Candy753

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If you want a limited 3rd person narrator, then you need to accept the limitations that come with it.

Either find a way to convey (or let go of) the information in your examples, or change the type of narration.

In some cases, you might want chapters with alternate POV characters narrating. This can happen in chapter headings too. It's probably overkill for your story though, especially since it's a short story and won't even have chapters.

In your first example, either your character needs to accidentally overhear it (which can be done without the speaker knowing) or needs to hear it second or even third hand. Or drop it.

The second example is easy. Your main character can see the speakers. It's easy for anyone to figure out "Who's that boy?" "I don't know" from body language.

For your third example, yes, only what the boy can hear is fair game. But remember, kids have better hearing than adults (something my teen just shocked my spouse and I with...she heard us speak softly 2 rooms away behind a closed door, and understood what we said). It's entirely possible the adults could be sure it was out of earshot but it wasn't.

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