Clarksville Christian Writer's Workshop- March 6th 2016

Welcome

Clarksville Christian Writers WorkshopTake Your Writing Deeper:Show Don’t Tell & Deep POV#CCW2016

WIFIHBCStudent A

Hi, I’m Hannah Conway• Kentucky Native• Army Wife, Momma &

Speaker• Author with Olivia

Kimbrell Press• Represented by The

Blythe Daniel Literary Agency

• “The Wounded Warrior’s Wife”

• “Wedding a Warrior”

WWW.HANNAHRCONWAY.COM

Sara R. Turnquist• Clarksville native• Wife, mother, “closet

writer”• Author with Clean

Reads• “The Lady Bornekova”• “The General’s Wife”

saraturnquist.com

#CCW2016

IcebreakerNEVER HAVE I EVER…

Take Writing DeeperA Show vs Tell & Deep POV discussion

Showing Vs. Telling

What is it?Tell: It’s simply telling the reader what is happening.Show: Creating a picture in the reader’s head of what’s going on, what the character is feeling etc without telling them.

Example:The Lorax:

ImageryActions/ReactionsDialogue

ExampleThe Lorax:

ImageryActions/ReactionsDialogue

When to Tell…Telling in the area of doing, action, description is Ok.Ex: She hung a left on South Bend and merged on to the 1-40 ramp.Ex: His eyes were mossy greenEx: His arm snapped—broken for sure, but he kept running.

When to Show…We want to SHOW emotion, and SHOW action that applied to the emotion

Avoid these Telling Words

FeltKnewThought

Components of a Showing Scene

SHARPS StakesH Hero/Heroine IdentificationA Anchoring R RunP Problem

5 W’s + 1 Emotion

[6] ClosingThank them for their time/considerationTell them what you are attaching

Only attach what is requested in their submission guidelines, if anything

Include your contact information here if it’s an electronic query

Break

Deep POV (Point of View)

POV 1st Person: Using “I”2nd Person: You (Rarely used…mostly in non-fiction)3rd Person: Name/he/she

Omniscient: Narrator knows everything…doing, feeling, thinking etc.Limited omniscient: Narrator only shows what character knows/thinks/feels

What is Deep POV?It’s 3rd person limited omniscient, BUT a step further

Mimics the way we/character perceive situations in real life

Narrator ONLY tells/shows things the character in the scene is consciously aware of

Example:In the moment with the characterWe see/feel ONLY what the character feels

Telling: He felt the bed shift beneath him, and wondered what was happening.

Deep POV: The bed shifted beneath him. What was happening?

What does Deep POV do?

Lets the character tell/show/share the story

Removes intentional thoughts/felt/other senses because we don’t intentionally think that way

Makes the narrator invisible

Why use Deep POV?It allows the reader to get close to the characterAdds emotional depth to the story; author disappears It’s an interactive experience for the reader

Do’s of Deep POVKnow your character & give her a strong voiceRefer to your POV character for intentional actions (use her/his name and he/she)Use “pointed” words like…this, that, here, there, sooner, laterInternalize everything! All details & descriptions come from character’s povLimit dialogue tags…. “he said,” “she asked”

Don’tsDon’t use passive voice: POV character is in the subject of sentence or clause whenever possibleDon’t refer to POV character directly when showing judgements, feelings, observations etc…Don’t “filter” your characters experiences….examples of filtered words are…thought, felt, saw, heard, realize, watch

Authors Who Do It Well!Joanne Bischof

Brandilyn Collins

Susan May Warren

Nicole Deese (1st person)

Tosca Lee (1st person)

Jerry B. Jenkins (1st & 3rd)

Questions?

Break

Breakout Sessions!1: Character Building 2: Marketing3: Writing/Peer Critiquing

Resources for You!Conferences

KY, Clarksville, ACFW in Nashville in 2016, google “Christian Writer’s Conferences”

Blogs from other established authors

Jerry Jenkins, The Creative Penn

HOW TO FIND USHANNAH

www.hannahrconway.comTWITTER: @hannahrconwayFACEBOOK: Hannah Conway, Author

SARAsaraturnquist.comTWITTER: @sarat1701FACEBOOK: Sara R. Turnquist, Author

Questions?

Clarksville Christian Writer’s GroupWEDNESDAY NIGHTS6:30 – 7:30 pmHilldale Baptist Church2001 Madison StreetClarksville, TN