That Darn Omniscient

Growing up I read all kinds of stories and never bothered with point of view. I didn’t care who was telling the story, just as long as the story was well told. When I started writing, when I decided to become an “author,” I used multiple narrators, the same way the authors did in the stories I had read. My critique group frowned on that. A serious mistake. Stick to one point of view, the writers informed me. So I did, with grave concern and earnest effort. And in my zeal, I passed along my newly imparted information to others until I became an expert on point of view, catching all kinds of hints and nuances that suggested omniscient and transforming them into singular viewpoints.

All was well, I thought, until it came time to offer up my own writing to the masses. Before I queried agents I studied newly published authors and what did I find? Horror of horrors, many of them are writing in omniscient point of view. But how can this be? Don’t they know it’s wrong? Has the world turned sideways and backwards and upended on its ear?

The answer (to paraphrase Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing) is:

Sigh some more, ladies, sigh some more;
Authors are deceivers ever;
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.

I recently finished reading The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow, a debut novel by Rita Leganski, which combines a unique and imaginative story with lush words and lavish descriptions that will soothe you, excite you, and draw you in from the very first line. And she uses the omniscient point of view. Darn her anyway. But the story was so good I didn’t care.

So what have I learned? Maybe omniscient isn’t so bad after all. Maybe omniscient has a place in writing. Maybe I should be a little less judgmental and a little more accepting.

How do you write? Do you use singular or multiple points of view? Do you care? Would you avoid reading a book because of the author’s choice?

Let me know what you think. All opinions welcome.