Regarding Third Person Omniscient versus "the old Switcheroo Viewpoint Mistake"- what is the biggest difference between the two for you? Is it the additional narrative about background and the like?
The difference is the narrator. There are no over-encompassing narrative flows in the Switcheroo...just the feel of TPL viewpoints being mixed up. Tolkien really is the best example of TPO. When you read his TPO, you get a feeling for the history, for the characters, for the background information. The narrator can know the thoughts for all of the characters. There's a fine line between the two POVs, honestly, but if you're reading a fanfic where every scene has two main characters in it, and you read the feelings of only those two characters, and there is no other attempt at an omniscient narrative flow, then it's the Switcheroo. At least, in my opinion.
Personally, I like TPL better anyway. You can show a lot from the main character's view; you can even show things that the main character might not quite process, which really deepens the fic.
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Date: 2006-10-30 06:45 pm (UTC)The difference is the narrator. There are no over-encompassing narrative flows in the Switcheroo...just the feel of TPL viewpoints being mixed up. Tolkien really is the best example of TPO. When you read his TPO, you get a feeling for the history, for the characters, for the background information. The narrator can know the thoughts for all of the characters. There's a fine line between the two POVs, honestly, but if you're reading a fanfic where every scene has two main characters in it, and you read the feelings of only those two characters, and there is no other attempt at an omniscient narrative flow, then it's the Switcheroo. At least, in my opinion.
Personally, I like TPL better anyway. You can show a lot from the main character's view; you can even show things that the main character might not quite process, which really deepens the fic.