The Art and Science

of Writing in Deep POVpresented by Jeanette Grey

Overview

Art• How you approach

crafting your character and finding your character’s voice.

Science• Technical issues related

to word choice and things to keep an eye out for during revisions.

First, some definitions.

What is “Deep POV”?

•Writing “Deep POV” means writing from deep inside your character’s mind. • The reader is completely immersed in the

character’s thoughts, sensations, and reactions. • She experiences the story as if she were that

character.

character’s^

Why Does Deep POV Matter?• Readers, editors, and agents are looking for a truly

immersive reading experience. • Every time you pull the reader out of your

character’s head is a chance for them to put down your book.

Different kinds of POVs

Who is telling the story?• First person:• I / We

• Second person:• You

• Third person:• He / She / They

How much do they know?• Omniscient:• They know everything.• They can usually speak

to other people’s thoughts.

• Limited:• They only know what

the POV character knows/thinks/feels.

Does it matter whether I write first or third person?No.* *(for the purposes of this discussion)

The Art of Writing in Deep POV

1. Know your character

• Who is your character?• What does he like? What does he hate?• How does she react to stimuli?• What is her past? What are her triggers?

Do your homework: character questionnaires, enneagrams,

archetypes

2. Know how your character sounds• How well-educated is he?• Does she have an accent?• How quickly does he think / speak?• What words would she use?

3. Know how your character thinks• Your character thinking on the page should read

the way his thoughts sound in his head. • Focus in on reactions, sensations, commentary,

stream of consciousness and inner monologue.• Interspersing these kinds of thoughts in your

narrative puts your reader in your character’s head

4. Know how your character doesn’t think• Tease background information. • When you do reveal things about your character’s

past, do it in immersive snippets of memory. • Avoid lengthy explanations from outside the memory.• Avoid full-on, extended scene flashbacks—unless your

character is actually having a flashback.

5. Get in your character’s head

Relate to your character

• Remember times when you felt the way your character does. The circumstances will be different, but the emotions translate. Bring those emotions and sense-memories to the page.

Surround yourself with inspiration

• Read or watch something to put you in the mood.• Journal as your character.

Before you write…

Surround yourself with inspiration

• Listen to music that sounds like how your character thinks.• Keep a photo somewhere visible.• Find a scent that reminds you of your character.• Write in a different font or color.

While you write…

"Deep POV is to the writer what method acting is to the actor. It requires the writer to submerge herself in the character from whose point of view a scene is being seen. It requires a casting off of all inhibitions. The writer becomes the character." 

- Maeve Maddox, www.dailywritingtips.com

The Science of Writing in Deep POV

1. One POV at a time

• Avoid “head hopping” by choosing one character and sticking to his or her POV exclusively for each scene or large chunk of a scene.• If you do switch POVs mid-scene, separate the sections

with a scene break.• Your POV character can only relate what he knows:• His senses. • His thoughts.• Things he observes.

Note: He will never observe himself.(…unless he’s looking in a mirror.)

1. One POV at a time

• Your character does not know what anyone else is thinking, seeing or feeling.• Keep the reader in the POV character’s head by

framing things from their perspective.• Be extra careful when using plural subjects like ‘we’

and ‘they’, as it’s easy to accidentally break POV by implying knowledge beyond the POV character’s experience.

2. What would your character call it?• Be mindful of your character’s vocabulary.• Refer to other characters the way your

character would refer to them in her head.• What would they call themselves?

Hint: Your POV character will never think of himself as “the blond man”

3. Avoid distancing words

• The reader assumes that everything your character thinks, sees, feels, etc., is something she thinks, sees, feels, etc. • Explicitly mentioning the thinking, seeing, feeling,

etc., reminds the reader that this is a story being told to her, not one she is personally experiencing.

3. Avoid distancing words

Examples:

“he noticed her hands were cold”

“she could feel her heart racing”

“he felt a cold stab of jealousy”

“She wondered if he still regretted that night.”

“her hands were cold”

“her heart raced”

“a cold stab of jealousy lanced through him”

“Did he still regret that night?”

3. Avoid distancing words

In your own work…

• Scan through and highlight any instances of distancing words.

• Do they break POV? How could you rewrite them?

Recognize how amazing it is that you do what you do.

Now go forth and write.

By writing from a deeper point of view, you give your readers the immersive, consuming experience they’re looking for, allowing them to live the highs of first love, the lows of rejection, and the passion of true romance.

You give them the chance to escape and become someone else.