My WIP short story alternates scenes between the Main Character's location and another location with other characters, but not the MC. The MC POV is limited omniscient. But for the scenes away from the MC, I'm trying the camera eye POV (where the narrator is not in anyone's head, but merely records events like a camera.) Is this legal, or do I need to pick another character in the remote location scenes and also use the limited omniscient there? .... Thanks
 

Say, for instance, you start with what looks like 3rd-person POV and suddenly head-hop, then it's jarring. But if the narrator is clearly omniscient, there won't be any jarring when we bounce from character to character, even in the same scene.

I'm wondering why the camera viewpoint is necessary? Is it a device to withhold information from the reader that a different POV would reveal? If so, you might consider avoiding it. Alternatively, you can start the story with the camera POV and then zoom in for deeper penetration as necessary -- perfectly legitmate, but not used very often. Then, when you do switch, it won't be nearly as jarring. But a camera POV is very distant, and modern narratives tend to be deep penetration. Camera POV narratives seem to work best with screenplays, too. One of the best things about reading a short story or novel is simply the depth of penetration that can be acheived, much deeper than a movie screenplay. Seems a shame to pass that opportunity up, in my opinion.

Regardless of what you choose, you won't be able to please everyone. All of us have our preconceived notions as to how a story works best. We might be right, or we might be wrong. It's only opinion. Don't sweat the POV police.
 

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Is this legal...?

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A quote from OSC: "The only real rule is: You can break any rule, as long as you're willing to pay the price."

I'm not too familiar with the correct names and official 'rules' for different POVs, so I won't try to follow up on HSO's comments in that regard.

I'm curious as to why you have chosen these POVs. Can you tell a little more about your motivation for this choice? It would help me to have more context with which to consider your question.
 

HSO and sojoyful, the reason I'm experimenting with these two POV's is because I need to really get into the head of the MC to show the intense panic and anxiety he's experiencing for not being able to be at a certain place at a certain time. When I switch to the location where he is supposed to be, I'm trying to just show what is happening in the MC's absence at that place, but not get inside those secondary characters because I don't want to take away from the intensity of the MC's state of mind. Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way. But I thought I'd experiment.
 

Personally, I think it would be great to see what's going on in the minds of the other characters. Perhaps they are waiting for the MC, and wonder where he/she is? Or perhaps hoping that he/she will not be present, as he was ordered to be or threatening to be. You can use their view to give us more context for the MC's intensity, and a better understanding of his/her motivations.

Just a thought. If your story line doesn't accomodate this, then forget I said it.
 

I didn't get the way you intended to do the 2 POV's. One was "limited omniscient" -- I think you mean limited -- omniscient means you know what he's thinking AND what everyone else is thinking. 3rd-person limited is the default and is cool. There's nothing to apologize for.

The other one, you wanted to do as a camera, cinematic style. But why? I don't think it will detract at all from one character's scenes, if another character's scenes are also in 3rd-person limited.
 

[This message has been edited by Calligrapher (edited November 26, 2005).]
 

And it meant that we could see inside one and only one person's head.