Sharon ReneDeep POV is popular today, especially in young adult and suspense books.
It helps the reader live the story right along with the character.
I enjoy writing in Deep POV, but it is not a requirement for all manuscripts. Here are a few tips for writing in Deep POV in case you’d like to give it a try.
- Deep POV is not a long string of internal monologue but it is always immediate and keeps the story anchored in the now.
- It eliminates most problems with show vs. tell.
- It polishes the voice of the character because you write your narrative as the character would think and feel it.
TIPS
- Do not say he thought, felt, wondered, speculated, decided, etc. because the reader is already in the POVC head.
- Use if and if only statements
.
- When a statement won’t work use a question.
Example: Had she locked her keys in the car again?
- Do not name a feeling
- Use actions, behaviors, and thoughts to indicate the feeling
- Stay away from
he she h eard. Simply state what the character sees, hears, etc.
Example: He heard a door
A door creaked down the hall.
- Remain in the now. Watch for MRU violations.
Action and then reaction.
She turned on the lights when she went inside.
She went inside and turned on the lights. This is better.
- You can use
as or when if simultaneous action/reaction.
I hope these tips are helpful. If you’re interested in learning more about Deep POV, I recommend Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View, by Jill Elizabeth Nelson.
Julia N. White
Michelle Kaderly Welsh
Misha
Great summary with specific tips! Do you refer to a character’s motivation and reaction as MRU?
Thanks Gretchen and yes MRU is motivation reaction units. Basically, it’s cause before effect. It’s funny that I now catch places in my ms where I have the effect happening before the cause.
I don’t know much about this topic, so these helped me a lot!
Glad you liked it Jillian. I really enjoy writing in deep POV. I think it’s helped my writing a lot. There a quite a few books out there on the topic of writing in deep POV.
This is a great collection of tips. I hadn’t thought of using if or if only. Thanks for posting this.
Glad to be helpful. I use if and if only quite a bit. Sometimes I have to watch myself with it but for me it’s an easy way to get the point across and stay in the deep POV.