Deep POV

Deep POV Deep POV Deep POV By Maeve Maddox One of the advantages of belonging to a writers group is that every member has different strengths and areas of expertise. As a result, we are continually learning from one another. For example, I learned about Deep POV (Point of View) from one of my colleagues. I was already familiar with First Person, Third Person, and Omniscient, but the term Deep POV was unfamiliar to me. Now that I know about it, I strive to achieve it, but its not an easy technique to master. Another term for Deep POV is limited Third Person. Its a technique that infuses Third Person POV with the intimacy of First Person Unlike ordinary Third Person, limited Third Person does away with dialogue tags and verbs such as see, notice, understand, feel, realize and think, which suggest telling as opposed to showing. Compare the following passages. Both are written in Third Person. Judy ran down the alley. She thought she could hear footsteps behind her. She realized now that she should have stayed on the main street. Her tight skirt and high heels were slowing her down. Judy picked up her pace. Footsteps sounded in her ears. Imagination? Maybe, but what if that spooky-looking man at the corner had followed her into the alley? Damn this tight skirt. She could hardly move her knees, let alone run. And these heels! What had possessed her to buy anything this high? Momma warned her about vanity. Writing in limited Third Person usually involves the expenditure of more words, but, if done effectively, the extra words add to the readers enjoyment by pulling him more deeply into the events narrated. 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. A useful exercise for the writer who prefers to write in Third Person is to write a scene in First Person, and then change all the nouns and pronouns to Third Person. For more on Deep POV, check out these links: Karen Kelley (Update: no longer active) Women on Writing Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Yiddish Handbook: 40 Words You Should Know50 Idioms About Arms, Hands, and Fingers3 Types of Essays Are Models for Professional Writing Forms