A full month into 2013 Nancy Stewart and I are back into the swing of exchanging monthly guest posts. Nancy visits with today to share her tips and expertise on "Deep Point of View: What is It?"
Welcome Nancy!
Deep
Point of View: What is It?
by Nancy Stewart
Deep Point of View?
What is it? Never heard of it.
These are the kinds of
answers I get many times when I mention this technique of writing. I thought it
just may be time to discuss this effective way of truly getting into one's
character's head and staying there. It's time to give the pesky narrator
the boot! Goodbye author intrusion.
Deep Point of View, sometimes called Close Third Person, can be used with First Person as well and is a writing style in great demand these days.
The reader climbs into their protagonist's skin—tasting, feeling, hearing, smelling what they do. Deep POV is a skill that must be learned, like anything else. But the four tips below are a great place to start.
Tip 1: Delete the phrase "s/he saw.
Obviously not every use of the word saw (observed, noticed, wondered etc.) will be slashed. But go through your manuscript looking for lines like these:
Olivia smiled at
her uncle. She saw that he was really into it now.
And
change to:
Olivia smiled at
her uncle. He was really into it now.
State
the action only. Saw always distance the reader. Bring the reader up close
instantly.
Tip 2: What words would you say in the manuscript?
Use realistic internal dialogue. What you would say to yourself if you were living the scene, then replace the pronouns with "s/he" (unless you're writing in first person, of course.)
The knife’s
blade rubbed her throat. The metal felt so cold. She had to stay still
and keep from blinking. She was panicked.
Deep
Point of View: The knife's blade
rubbed her throat. Why was the metal so cold? Sweat dripped into
her eyes, burning them. What does it feel like to die?
Tip 3: Don't label emotions
This is classic show vs. tell but is vital to Deep POV. Delete from your mind the name we give to an emotion and force yourself to describe it. What physical movements would show the emotion without naming it?
Example:
Anger
Olivia
was angry.
Becomes:
Olivia's eyes became slits.
Tip 4: Physiological responses
Once
you lay out some strong internal dialogue and remove emotion labels, follow up
with physiological responses. Depending on the situation, these might be: knees buckling, chest tightening, throat
clamping, an adrenaline rush, goose bumps, nausea, dizziness, sweating, etc.
Describe them! This will really pull the reader deep into the story,
particularly in high-intensity moments.
Example:
Excessively hot
Becomes: If only Olivia could remove the enormous blanket of heat bearing down on
her. Breathing hard, sweat poured from her body and dried quickly.
"We all have to drink, or we're not gonna make it." A frog's
croak. Was that her voice?
I
hope this post has encouraged you to throw out all the distance-making words in
your manuscript. Let yourself be invisible. Allow your protagonist
to shine through those pages. You'll be happy and so will your readers!
Nancy, thank you for visiting with me today and my readers. It is always a true pleasure and wonderful learning experience.
Warmest regards,
Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Award-winning Children's Author
Connect with Donna McDine on Google+
The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
~ Literary Classics Silver Award and Seal of Approval, Readers Favorite 2012 International Book Awards Honorable Mention and Dan Poynter's Global e-Book Awards Finalist
