I’m writing my current novel in omniscient point of view. And these past few days I’m realizing what this means. I’m writing each day and have the story on my mind all the time. And each time I think of a new angle, I consider whether I put the new perspective into the novel in some character’s arc, either from their mouth or as a bump in their path. Omniscience involves considering all the angles.

In another way it’s like giving each person’s point of view its justice. If a character’s view is only part of the ‘story’ (or you write them deliberately with a limited view so they are a foil – or villain – flawed or damaged) of life, their story should have its own sort of justice. Their reasons should be consistent with motivations and actions, even if the faculties are irrational. The author, me, I —of course am not omniscient, so the whole itself is only a perspective. But a writer should give a true account of things they have known to be true from experience. At least, that’s what I believe. That’s my epistemology, or belief in how truth is arrived at in fiction. In philosophy there are disputes on whether truth can come from induction or deduction, observation, I don’t know all the ins and outs of that but I think people maybe can invent things that are true without having experienced them. They may experience them in their imagination. And I feel I do that. What I mean when I say writing should be “something you know to be true” is, something you can speak about with authority.

Which is the problem with omniscient narration. Who has authority? And who accepts that others have it? I think it’s all problematic. So it comes down to rhetoric, that is, persuasion. Ripping a good yarn, getting someone to feel for your characters, and believing. How to get someone to engage with a book and entice a reader into the possibilities a writer might show, enough to keep them reading. It’s a lot to take a chance on a shared journey. It’s like a friendship or an act of trust, and the goal is a sort of communion, a deeper level of communication, at once intimate and remote.

“Oh. She liked to tease Lentz about the neural linguistics he worked on back then. She said that it wasn’t all that tough. What’s to study? All human utterances came down to ‘Do you really mean that?’ and ‘Look over there! It’s an X.’ The hard part, she always claimed, was finding someone who knew what you meant by those two things.”

– Richard Powers, ‘Galatea 2.2’

Incidentally, my novel has developed a considerable through line on the topic of SITUATIONISM. It shall be discussed. And I set up the lead in to the sequel where objective reality begins to collapse. So, everything’s under control, situation normal. Everything’s perfectly alright. We’re fine. We’re all fine here, now. Thank you. How are you? Have you been following the plot developments of the response to the Acolyte, the new Star Wars show? It’s been watching people fight over trying to decree whether it is terrible or not. Some seem very determined to determine. Anyway, I haven’t seen the actual show yet. But it is heartening that people believe art matters, I suppose.

In conclusion, I think a novelist should, must, exist as many walking contradictory beliefs or positions in order to give voice to life as it is. We wrestle and are in confusion and have terrible secrets and write so that no one hears what is inside unfiltered. We play publicist to our subconscious so we don’t devolve into shouting and feral biting without the outlet. As Nietzsche put it, “one must have chaos within to give birth to a dancing star.”

Life isn’t simple and one-sided. It’s like a gem that reflects on the world through itself, in itself, of itself. Everything is connected, and it’s the particulars that show the connects, like the facets and cuts in a diamond. One shouldn’t argue that a glint of light or shadow is wrong, but show where it leads and becomes something other. That’s my belief, as of now. Let’s keep it moving. The machines are coming for us all. Type faster.

This is a first defense / This was a first defense / This is my last defense