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Part vii. Deep POV

Before this was requested by piyobear88, I had never heard of Deep POV. After further investigation, it reminded me of the concept known as stream of consciousness.

Stream of consciousness is a method of narration that describes in words the flow of thoughts in the minds of the characters. It is a style of writing developed by a group of writers at the beginning of the 20th century. It aimed at expressing in words the flow of a character's thoughts and feelings in their minds. The technique aspires to give readers the impression of being inside the mind of the character. Therefore, the internal view of the minds of the characters sheds light on plot and motivation in the novel.

However, stream of consciousness only applies to First-Person POV.

Another term for Deep POV is limited Third Person, which I touched upon in the fourth part of this section in Third-Person POV. It's a technique that infuses Third-Person POV with the intimacy of First-Person stream of consciousness.

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.

Using the Deep POV technique when writing allows you get inside the mind of your POV character and make a deep emotional connection with readers.

But to do so, you must remove as many traces of authorship from the page as possible. The less readers are reminded that they're actually reading, the more effective your Deep POV will be. Remember, you want to hold readers enthralled.

Deep POV Basics

Like I mentioned above, writing in Deep POV is all about getting inside the head of your POV character. That means you must know your character inside and out, so make sure to take the time to make them as well-developed as possible.

You will never use all of the background information you create for your novel in the novel itself, but knowing the everything about your character's life will help you better understand their goals, motivations, relationships, personality, and other major factors that will help you nail Deep POV.

You can then use these elements to add realism and consistency to the events of your character's story while you write.

How to Write in Deep POV

Writing in Deep POV may seem tricky at first, but employing these six steps as told by Kristen Kieffer can help you get Deep POV right the first time around. Check 'em out:

1. Limit Your Character's Knowledge. The first step to getting inside your character's head is accepting that they don't know everything about everything.

Your POV character will be blind to certain story elements and events simply because they haven't yet heard about them or witnessed them. This can be hard to acknowledge when you're just trying to tell a good story, but inadvertently making your character an all-knowing deity can be a costly mistake.

So make sure to only reveal the things your POV character actually knows to keep readers engaged in your story. Cool?

2. Cut Out Filter Words. Filter words are a mark of authorship. But what are filter words?

When you write that a character "thought" or "wondered" or "saw" something instead of just stating it, you take readers out of the Deep POV experience. A character doesn't think these filter words while living out their life, so why should you include them in your writing?

Confused? No worries. Here's an example to get you started:

Out of Deep POV