I received my first helpful rejection from an agent. Which is great! The problem is he said that it had POV problems from the beginning. I've had several beta readers go through it, and they never found the POV confusing. I wrote it in 3rd person omniscient. I honestly went through it and I can't find any problems... not trying to sound arrogant here. Should I get someone else to look at it? Should I listen to this agent or did he just not like my writing?
POV problems?
- Thread starter texas_girl
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It's possible he just doesn't get 3rd person omni. Before I found an agent, I had a rejection from one who also complained about POV problems...and my MS was 3rd person limited. He was the only reader who EVER mentioned this, out of all the betas, agents, etc. who read my MS. The dude just didn't understand 3rd person limited, as far as I could tell. Dunno. *shrug*
It's also possible you do have a POV problem. Omni is a tricksy hobbit. Did the agent offer more detail beyond "POV problems?"
It's also possible you do have a POV problem. Omni is a tricksy hobbit. Did the agent offer more detail beyond "POV problems?"
Yay for feedback!
Figuring out what agents mean in their rejections is a longshot. They often don't say a lot of what they mean. I'm thinking if he said there were 'problems' and you had it beta checked for consistency, maybe it was the voice he didn't connect with?
Figuring out what agents mean in their rejections is a longshot. They often don't say a lot of what they mean. I'm thinking if he said there were 'problems' and you had it beta checked for consistency, maybe it was the voice he didn't connect with?
He may be reading it as a failure of viewpoint discipline rather than an intentionally omniscient viewpoint. Omniscient is rare, while authors who struggle with limited viewpoints are many. 
Hard to assess without seeing an example. You might post in SYW a representative excerpt which you feel displays the POV, and ask responders specifically about that issue.
caw
caw
SYW is a good idea. Third omni is tough to pull off, and readers not tuned into POV issues may not pick up on the problems. One way some writers tackle it is to use language early on to let the reader know there is an outside narrator/storyteller.
Don't change it just for him. Have you tried a writer website? You can't change your book whenever one person doesn't get something or you'll be changing it forever. You can't please everyone. Definitely get more opinions. Maybe he just wanted a reason to say no?
Too many think third omniscient means you can headhop whenever you want. Third omniscient is not permission to do this. This may be your problem. An agent or editor will spot the problem, but very, very, very few readers, or new writewrs, out there actually know what omniscient really means.
While this is true, many, many, many readers will feel reading discomfort with an uncontrolled head-hopping narrative, even if they can't critically identify the problem. Which is why any writer needs to be cognizant of POV craft, and write narratives that don't randomly violate it.
caw
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