fiction

If you’ve been writing for a while, you probably know what POV is. You also know what head-hopping is. Something I did regularly when I first started writing. I’ll give you a brief summary anyway. Bear with me. There may be newbies reading this blog.

POV (Point of view) is the perspective from which a story is told. You have three choices.

First Person – From the “I” perspective. I enjoy this POV, but it limits the information you get, since the entire novel is from one person’s perspective. It is actually narrated by a character within the story using “I” or “we”.

Second Person – From the “You” perspective. The narrator is speaking directly to the reader, using pronouns such as “you” and “your”. This point of view is less common. I must admit, I’ve never read a novel from this perspective, so I can’t comment on its effectiveness.

Third Person – From the he/she/they perspective. My preferred and easiest to manage, at least from my point of view:-) This one can be broken down further to limited or omniscient. I choose to work with limited. This perspective focuses on one character’s perspective at a time. It will jump back and forth between characters throughout the story. Just remember you can be in only one head per scene. If you start jumping back and forth in the same scene, you’re head hopping, a sure sign that you are a beginner and have no idea what you’re doing. I’m guilty of this one 🙂

Now that we’re caught up, let’s look at Deep POV. Why? Because I recently got dinged for my POV, and I’m having to do a little research to understand what I can do to get even deeper into my character’s head.

Editor’s comment to me-

“You’re a talented writer, and you’ve created a strong connection between the reader and Ariel. When you learn and employ the elements of Deep POV. This is a real winner.’

For Deep POV, you want the reader to experience each situation through the character’s POV, not just read about them, but take every step, see every object or obstacle, feel every emotion, smell every flower.

Key Techniques to remember to stay in Deep POV:

Eliminate Filter Words: Remove words that distance the reader from the character’s experience. Saw, heard, felt, thought, believed, knew.

Show Don’t Tell: Present the character’s physical reactions and internal monologue.

Use Character Voice and Language: You are creating this character, and you know them better than anyone. Just remember to stay within your creation’s specific vocabulary, slang, opinions, and worldview.

Interact with the Setting: Have the character engage with their environment rather than just describe it objectively.

Balance internal and external responses: While focusing inward, you still have to show your character reacting to external events and people.

Hope this helped you with the Deep POV. I got most of my information from Writer and YouTuber Brandon McNutty: How to Use Deep POV in Your Writing. If you’re having the same problems I am, you may want to check him out.

Thanks for stopping by.

-Jan R

A simple question with what should be a simple answer, but I can tell you it’s a lot harder than you think. I did major revisions on my current novel and entered it in a contest expecting rave reviews. Well, at least good ones. All three judges came to the same conclusion. I was telling far more than I was showing.

While some narrative is necessary, it shouldn’t be front loaded, and it should be balanced with dialogue and action.

Jerry Jenkins, one of my favorite blogger/mentors in the writing arena, said show don’t tell is a hard concept for most new writers to grasp, but once you’ve got it, you’ve got it.

I agree with him totally and am in the process of revising my manuscript to show not tell again 🙂 One thing to keep in mind while writing, just because there’s a lot of action doesn’t mean you’re showing. A mistake I made.

Exxample:

John’s horse’s hoofs seemed to take flight as it ran for safety. (A lot of action there and a pretty sentence too, but I’m telling.)

John held on tight, as his hips ached, and his teeth rattled from quick repetitive thumps on the saddle. What spooked my horse?

The second sentence may not be perfect 🙂 but I hope it helps you understand show not tell. Just because your sentences are packed with action, doesn’t mean they are showing. Get into your character’s head. What are they feeling? What are they thinking? What are they seeing?

I thought I could use a refresher on how to show and not tell, and why it’s so important. Of course, I wanted to share it with you.

I can’t count how many times I’ve heard the phrase-show don’t tell. Everybody knows you’re supposed to show and not tell. You want the reader to experience the scene as if they are one of the characters walking through the story beside the hero/heroine.

If you’re like me, you know what you’re supposed to do, but it’s a lot harder than it seems. Once you start writing that novel, you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

There are 5 tools for showing:

Dialogue
Action
Interior dialogue
Interior emotion
Description-Sensory

If you’re doing anything that’s not one of these 5 things, you’re telling.

Why is it so important to show versus tell? Showing provides your reader with a powerful emotional experience.

It doesn’t matter how great you do everything else in that novel if you’re missing that emotional experience, you lose. If everything you did is bad, but you have a great emotional experience, you may still win.

It all comes down to the takeaway. Every great novelist will tell you, you have to give your reader that powerful emotional experience or they won’t be coming back.

-Something to think about 🙂

-Jan R

Writing your first novel-Things you should know

Things you should know before writing your first Novel.

What’s Deep POV

How Do I Show and Not Tell?

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