Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I have a new YA piece I'm wanting to start on, but I'm struggling with POV. I want to start it in third omniscient because I want it to read almost fairy taleish, but it needs to move to third limited for the rest of the story to work.

Is that acceptable or a big no-no?

If it works, it works. I'd suggest switching to close 3rd after a chapter break, though.

Thanks...I don't know if I can make it all the way to a chapter with it in 3rd omniscient, but maybe I can do a scene break type thing? I'm trying to avoid the dreaded prologue, but I feel like I need it (not a prologue, but the different POV) to set the fairy tale feel.

Maybe use a different typeface/font for the omniscient portions?

That's not a bad idea and it would probably look similar to a scene break type deal. Thanks. :)

I've read books that used first person past, first person present, third person limited, and omniscient. Sometimes, the different POV's were even used in the same chapter (through the use of scene breaks). Each character had his/her/its own different POV form. I think it works very well, as long as you make it work.

Holy crap, there is no way I could keep up with that! Ha!

Thanks for the advice - I *think* it will work as a scene break the way I have it in my head. We shall see!

Whatever you do, don't fool around with different fonts. When you submit a manuscript, you will be expected to use one consistent font (which one depends on the agent's or publisher's criteria).

Of course you can change the font at any time; but while it might look great to you to use different fonts, the glamor of it could blind you to flaws in transition. Keep the words in plain vanilla and they will speak for themselves.

Thanks, yeah, that's what I figured. Do you know what the best way is to show a scene break? I don't think just the space will be enough, so do you do #### or something?

I think you pretty much have it right for the page break. But I think it's:

text
<space>
#
<space>
text

I'm not 100% certain though, so you still may want to check on it.