Deep point of view is a stylistic choice to remove the writer voice and instead write the story as though the reader is inside the character’s head. You want to remove any hints that the reader is in a chair at home reading a story instead of living out the story alongside the main character(s).
Learning to recognize when distance creeps into your story is really hard, especially if you haven’t read a lot of stories written entirely in deep point of view. It’s a tricky mindset shift that needs to happen and it’s not always intuitive.
I’m doing something a bit different here this week – an experiment of sorts. In my courses and in the free Facebook group, I often give feedback on a paragraph or two to help writers see where they can take their writing deeper and so many find that SUPER helpful.
I’ve been doing free one-page critiques in my free Facebook group and those who submit generously agreed to allow me to share a paragraph or two in the spirit of helping everyone go deeper! You can’t fix what you can’t see! And it happens to everyone. I still have editors and crit partners point out where I’ve let distance and telling creep into my stories and I’ve shared many of those examples here on the blog. It’s just so hard to see in your own work — not impossible, it gets easier, but it will still creep in.
Example One: What Is Being Mentally Prepared For And WHY?
Cindy, upstairs in her sitting room, flips the television off. She watches the limo enter through the gates. It winds around the bare flower beds, past the leafless dogwood trees, coasting to a slow stop at the front of the house. She smooths her wool navy and black plaid skirt down over her hips, mentally preparing for the explanation. The hem of her skirt dances around her booted ankles as she walks to the stairway. Placing one foot firmly in the center of each step, she makes her descent.
I’ve bolded where the distance as crept into the paragraph here. The goal of deep pov is for the reader to feel like they’re right there, in the room with the character privy to all their thoughts and feelings.
Gravel crunched on the driveway and Cindy flipped off the television. She stood to the side of the window and looked out, but didn’t move the lace curtains aside. The limo glided past the flower beds and coasted to a stop at the front of the house. He’d have an excuse ready. He always did. She smoothed her wool skirt over her hips and turned towards the stairs. She wouldn’t challenge his lies, but she was done believing them.
I don’t know how this writer wants this story to go, but here’s one way the distance could be removed. The reader doesn’t know what this character is mentally preparing for or WHY. Having both those elements shown (not told) would help the reader lean in and hopefully cheer for this character!
The reader, at this point, doesn’t need to know what the apology will be about, or even if her attitude is fair. It’s how this character sees the situation RIGHT NOW. Do you see a difference? Are you leaning in more to find out what happens next?
Comments