My Writing Guide

Deep Point of View

Have you ever read a story where you feel completely one with the point of view character? It's as if you are that person. You are living their life, pursuing their journey. You even forget that you are reading a book and that an author lives behind every word. You are simply enthralled by the magic in the pages.

That is an awesome experience, is it not?

Novels like these are often written using a technique called Deep Point of View, or Deep POV for short. Before I say anything else about Deep POV, I'd like to point out that this technique may not work well for your book. Many writers tout Deep POV as the next big thing, so it may be tempting to work it into your novel. But here's the thing; deep POV won't make your novel an instant success with readers.

In fact, if not done with the utmost care, Deep POV can actually drive readers away. And that is certainly no bueño!

There are plenty of magical novels that have become successes without utilizing the Deep POV technique, The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, and The Chronicles of Narnia to name a few. However, Deep POV is on the rise in modern literature. Authors like Maggie Stiefvater and Lucy Christopher are utilizing it to draw their readers into their stories.

But what is Deep POV anyway? And why is so effective? Read on, soldier...

What is Deep POV?

Deep POV is a technique used to get inside the mind of a character and make a deep emotional connection with readers. To do so, the author must remove nearly all traces of authorship from the page. The less that the reader remembers that they are reading, the more effective the Deep POV. You want to hold your reader enthralled.

Deep POV techniques can be applied to first or third person point of views with effectiveness.

The reason that Deep POV is on the rise is because readers love feeling lost in their entertainment. By removing all traces of authorship, an author encourages their readers to become one with the POV character, taking part in their journey as if it were their own. As such, Deep POV often works best in novels that seek to thrill the reader or take them on an emotional journey.

Like many other techniques, Deep POV can not be perfected overnight. At first, a keen eye and a conscious mind must work together to keep the work from slipping back into typical shallow POV techniques. However, writing in Deep POV continuously will help the technique become a natural part of your writing style.

Deep POV Basics

Writing in Deep POV is all about getting into the head of your POV character. That means that you must know your character better than you know yourself.

Take the time to flesh out your character's entire life. I mean it. You will never use all of the information you create in your novel, but knowing the events of your character's entire life will help you better understand their motivations, relationships, and personality. You can use these elements to add realism and consistency to the events of your character's story while you write.