I’ve spent a lot of time trying to achieve what I’ve heard referred to as “Deep POV” and am always searching for new techniques. Whether you write in first or third person, what are some of the ways you write or edit your writing to get a closer or deeper POV?
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I decided a long time ago to write more deeply… I look out for the character “talking” to the reader. Character can to to themselves, but not the audience. Words and phrases like, [thought, decided, told myself] Prepositional phrasing, and I love me some prepositional phrases, that indicate an author outside the the story, “It occurred to me…” the gandy of them all, “Suddenly, I realised…”
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Yes. Those pesky filter words. THey always seep into my first draft and then I have to go back and weed them out. I hadn’t thought about the prepositional phrases, though. That’s good. Thanks!
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If ever there was an argument for “messy” writing, the POV in the First . . . or, second, third/etc draft can be found. I make notes in the narration, characters wax eloquently, and sometimes not. I like getting it all in one place.
Like daniel said, I avoid filtering (whether in 1st or 3rd POV). That in itself is a huge step toward bringing readers into a deeper POV.
Something else I like to do it reread whatever section I want to pull the reader into and pinpoint where my attention wanders (if it does), and tighten the prose or change the content so it keeps my attention.
Maybe it’s a symptom of the years of fanfic writing and serial posting, but I edit each section/chapter a day or two after I’ve finished it. That means when I go back through it, I iron out all the POV, filtering, SPaG, etc. issues until I’m happy with every word I’ve written. A lot of the time, during that edit is where I catch things like plot holes, POV inconsistencies, issues with character voice, etc. If it doesn’t feel right, it gets cut.
The initial draft is quick and messy, but once it’s down, then it’s time to let it sit a while so I can come back to it later and make it into the fantastic thing I know it can become.
Another thing I find effectively draws readers into a deeper POV is distinct POV character voice. If I can hear a character while I read, I’m going to keep reading.
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Just the other day, someone suggested keeping scenes/chapter discreet . . . as in, all in one file, then examining them one-by-one when the piece is done.
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I posted something similar to this in another thread a couple days ago. I keep each chapter in its own document, then combine it with the edited whole when I’m done polishing it up. To me, it takes the pressure off of staring at this monster-length document and lets me concentrate on one piece at a time before I do a complete read-through to look for things I might have missed.
Edit: Looks like you already replied on that thread. 