Newbie question re 3rd person limited

[hendy]

I found that when writing narrative prose in 3rd person limited my instinct is to avoid descriptions that are beyond the knowledge of the viewpoint character - for instance, if a child is my MC I might describe a statue as gold-coloured rather than gilded with gold leaf.

Similarly if an Ordinary Joe witnesses a complex device such as a particle accelerator I would describe what he would think of it, rather than elaborating on the complex underlying physics.

Since this is 3rd person viewpoint is my instinct off target?

[maestrowork]

I think you're correct. In 3rd limited you're reporting things through your character's POV. So if he doesn't know what he's seeing, he could describe it ("it's a box with a lot of wires"), but he wouldn't be able to tell it's a particle accelerator (unless he does know!). The limitation (thus the term "limited") is that your readers wouldn't know either, through his POV. 3rd limited is similar to 1st person in that way -- we're only limited to what the POV character knows or observes.

[hendy]

Thanks maestro, I think you're right.

My confusion comes from the fact that in 3rd person limited you are a disembodied narrator who is able to follow a single person and get inside their mind but you are a different person to the viewpoint charcter, and could theoretically have knowledge they don't.

[maestrowork]

Thanks maestro, I think you're right.

My confusion comes from the fact that in 3rd person limited you are a disembodied narrator who is able to follow a single person and get inside their mind but you are a different person to the viewpoint charcter, and could theoretically have knowledge they don't.

Yes and no. I think there is a distance there and the narrative voice can be different from that of the character. There the general 3rd limited and also a "close" 3rd limited where the narrative voice adheres closely to the character's.

In normal 3rd limited, you don't necessarily have to limit your narrative capability to the character. That is, if your character is a child, you don't necessarily have to use child-like language or simple descriptors. You can describe the things he sees with fine details -- you just can't say it's a "particle accelerator" because the character doesn't know. I think you can say "gilded with gold leaf" but probably not "24-karat South American gold."

It can be confusing. I think it comes down to what level of details can the character know. Even if the child only sees the color gold, he actually sees gold leaves, so the narrator is allowed to report on the gold. But the "24-karat" is beyond the child's perception as well as knowledge, so that can't be reported. Same with "particle accelerator" -- you can describe to fine details about the construction and the colored wires, etc. as long as the character can observe it, but he would have no concept that it's a particle accelerator, and thus the narrator can't say it.

[Dawnstorm]

Thanks maestro, I think you're right.

My confusion comes from the fact that in 3rd person limited you are a disembodied narrator who is able to follow a single person and get inside their mind but you are a different person to the viewpoint charcter, and could theoretically have knowledge they don't.

maestro's answers have been great, so I have little to add.

What you've said here is pretty much why I'll always treat 3rd limited as a sub-type of 3rd omni (the complete term for 3rd limited is - often - 3rd limited omniscient).

As maestro pointed out, the key is narrative distance. The more distant the narrator the easier the transition to full-blown omni. It's not a different in kind so much, as it's a difference in degree.

(Aside to maestro: shall we get into the discussion again, or shall we dig up the link? ;) )