I can do a story written in close third, but when I try to be less close or omniscient, I get called out on POV things like head hopping or POV switches where I just couldn't see the problems. I don't want to feel like I have to always do a close third person story, but it seems to be the only way I can avoid making these kind of mistakes in third person stories. How do you train yourself to notice and avoid these problems? I know reading is often an answer to many writer issues, but that really hasn't helped me figure this out. And I read all the time. I would love to hear if any of you have struggled with this and what you have done about it.
~First, forget "close or "distant" third. These have no meaning. You're either in third person limited, or you're not. There is no "close" and "distant" third limited.
Third limited is pretty simple. You can only write what a single character sees, hears, knows, thinks, feels, hears, believes, tastes, etc. That's it.
If that one character can't see it, hear it, know it, think it, feel it, taste it, believe it, then you can't write it. If you do write it, it's head-hopping.
Omni is very different, and few writers understand what Omni is, or what it's for. You can't head-hop and call it omni. Omni is not about head-hopping. Like all POVs, omni is about distance. It's about getting the main character further from the reader, and, in fact, keeping all characters away from the reader. New writers usually fail at omni because they don't understand that POV is about distance.