Beginning writers are often confounded by narrative distance. Point of view – first person, third person – is easier to grasp, but bringing your reader closer to your protagonist or pushing them further away can be harder to explain to a new writer. Beginners also tend to rely more heavily on third-person omniscient narrative, which makes it easier to convey information your reader needs to know but which may be unknown to your protagonist. Training yourself to pull in closer to your protagonists thoughts – thereby limiting how and what you can tell the reader – takes practice and experience.
In a new blog post, Janice Hardy explains the differences in narrative distance, with examples using the same text in different POV.
