Ya Gotta Know This About That: Third Person Omniscient or Not

I don't really like third person omniscient!

If I'm writing a story, I like to be the center of attention (HA HA HA) so maybe this is the reason I don't like third person omniscient.

When a story is unfurling, and the narrator is going to town, the characters don't know everything that's going on but this third party person narrator does. Not fair!! The third party omniscient means telling a story of a third party.... not me, not you, but her/him.

This used to be a very popular way to tell a story but not so much so now. Writers really don't like to use the third party omniscient because the writer has to be in the subject's head and then jump to the other's head to be able to tell the story. It can become confusing believe me. And you sometimes lose the translation in the story. Plus the writer has to be privy to all the facts relating to the story and has to be able to set forth the actual thoughts and feelings of the character in the story. That's hard to do. When I do this third part omniscient I call myself an oddball second person standing on the sidelines just opening my mouth about someone else.

Now I've told you this I bet you understand third part omniscient to the utmost. Right??? Wrong I bet. Well don't be concerned, as I sometimes don't understand it either and get to being third part, and occasionally first person all in the same story.

Well time to go and figure out my next story and see if I hear several person's voices in my mind. Ooops....I think hearing voices is something else might be wrong with me.

More About Abraham Lincoln

In Springfield, IL in 1839, Abe met Mary Todd. Three years later they married in Springfield. The wedded couple spent their honeymoon night at the Globe Tavern and this is the place which is considered as their home for 2 years after their marriage. Their son Robert was born at the Globe Tavern residence. This Globe Tavern was a combination tavern, place of lodging and a restaurant.

The family lived on the second floor in a room which was 8 foot by 14 foot. They took their meals in the common dining room. The cost was $4.00 per week.

Globe tavern picture taken on the morning of Abe's funeral 1865.

We all know he went on to be the 16th president. Even though he was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky February 12, 1809, persons in this Menard County, Illinois claim him as their own son. His family moved from their Southern Indiana residence which was near the current Gentryville in 1830, to a place 10 miles southwest of Decatur on the banks of the Sangamon River. Later that year the family moved to Goose Nest Prairie in Coles County Illinois.

In 1831 young Abe decided to go out on his own and landed in New Salem, Illinois. He became acquainted with the Rutledge family and became close friends with Ann Rutledge, who later died of typhoid fever. It is said that a clear relationship developed between Abe and Ann Rutledge. There are several reports of Abe Lincoln's reaction to her death. Many thought he became very depressed while a few of the locals thought he became suicidal.

He acually only lived in New Salem Illinois for between 6 and 7 years, but his ties have remained throughout current day history.

Just a few trivia items about Abe Lincoln which you might not have known.

1. Abe Lincoln was the tallest president. An artist measured Abe while he was in the White House and it's documented he was 6 feet 3 and 3/4 inches tall in his stocking feet although in most instances it has been rounded to 6 foot 4 inches tall. His shoe size is normally listed between 12 and 14.

2. Abe was brought up by Baptist parents, and occasionally attended Presbyterian church in Springfield and Washington DC. He was married by an Episcopal minister. He never joined any church during his life.

3. Abe did not attend his father's funeral and, in fact, did not get along with his father. Upon hearing of his father's declining health he refused to see him and told his stepbrother to tell his father "Say to him that if we could meet now, it is doubtful whether it would not be more painful than pleasant."

4. Abe Lincoln was never photographed with his wife Mary.

5. In 1952 a researcher found an open casket photo of Abe Lincoln in the Illinois Historical Library. Until then it was thought there were no open casket photos.

Only known photo of Abe Lincoln in his casket with open lid. Taken

at city hall in New York. Found in 1952 in the Illinois Historical

Library files by a researcher and until then it was thought there were

no open casket photos.

6. All three floors of the Ford Theater collapsed in June, 1893 killing 22 and injuring many others. At the time it was a warehouse storing war records. It was later rebuilt on the inside.

The Ford Theater when all three floors collapsed on the inside in June 1893.

The outside of the Ford Theater, after Lincoln's death in 1865. It's draped in mourning.

Newspaper showing an illustration of Booth jumping from the balcony

after the shooting.

Lincoln's rocking chair in the Ford Theater.

There are so many things I didn't know about Abe and I'm sure some things you also didn't know. I will be doing periodic articles about Abe and his interesting life among our ancestors here in Menard County. He was a neighbor to many of our relatives and travelled the roads and fields which we now know. Watch for more in the near future.

Quote For The Day

A quote about Abe Lincoln

Not in vane has Lincoln lived, for he has helped

make this republic an example of justice,

with no caste but the caste of humanity.

--George Bancroft

Friends. A subject we all are familiar with. We have friends. We make friends. We lose friends.

We get new friends. We have cyber friends whom we will most likely never meet. We have friends we wish we would have never met. We lose old friends. We have friends for a lifetime even though we don't see them often. We lost friends because of something happening between friends. We make up with friends. We never make up with some friends.

Friends die. Friends live. We send messages to friends. We don't have any contact with some friends.

Friendships remain strong. Friendships wither on the vine. Friendships can develop into lifelong and close relationships.

A friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.

Don't forget about your friends. Call them. Talk to them.

"But always remember to call them friend."