How Important is Deep POV? Really?

Last week, Angela Quarles posted about deep POV and the problems that can occur when using the words “before” and “until.” In many cases, these words tell instead of show, which often distance the reader from the character. She presented three passages from her latest WIP where she’d used those words and then explained how she’d fixed them up to keep the reader in deep POV. All good stuff.

Except for the fact that in all three cases, I preferred the original version.

Now I admit I’m not an expert on deep POV. Heck, I still struggle with showing and telling. I don’t read many romance novels (where deep POV is most widely used) and the fantasy stories I read rarely utilize deep POV. To be honest, my reader’s palate may simply too immature at this stage of my writing career to fully grasp the concept.

Let me give you an example from her post.

Before: He angled up toward Dauphin Street, and she waited until he disappeared around the corner before she set off after him. She peeked around the corner. His tall form weaved through a light crowd.

After: He angled up toward Dauphin Street, and disappeared around the corner. She scurried to the corner and peeked around. His tall form weaved through a light crowd.

I understand the first version is a little telling, but personally I don’t have much of a problem with that. In fact, I preferred the telling version because it gave me a better understanding of her interior thoughts and motives during the sequence of events, as opposed to the second version, which seemed more like a formal recitation of the events.

Now I’m sure Angela’s fans enjoy her writing style and will love the changes. But I suspect my stories will always tend more toward the first version. It's what I'm most comfortable with.

So is there any hope for me as a fantasy writer?

Friday Links -- Volume 28

Friday, at last!  Not much happened this week other than the fact that my daughter took third place in a regional Forensics competition. Congratulations to her.

Here are this week's writing links.  Enjoy the weekend!
ChemistKen

Thoughts on Reader Reviews

Creating An Acknowledgements Section

Ack! Queries! Part 3 – Query Submission Strategies

4 Tips for the Care and Feeding of Dead Blogs

Classifying Your Book: How to Research & Target Literary Agents

Are Your Characters Fighting Obstacles or Each Other?

Friday Links -- Volume 27

Last weekend left me feeling kind of lazy, so I didn't get as much writing done this week as I might have hoped.   Sometimes it's good to sit back and recharge.  Still, I'm hoping I'll feel guilty enough this weekend to jump back into my stories with a vengeance.

As always, enjoy the links and have a great weekend!
Chemist Ken

Parts of Story: How Setting Can Help Bring Characters To Life

Ack! Queries! Part 2 – Elements of a Successful Query

Using A Crowd To Create Tension In Your Story

Starting the Story “In the Action”—Understanding “In Medias Res”

What Killed It For Me, #7: Issues with Sequels

How to Write Blog Content: 9 Tips to Entice Readers to Your Author Blog

How to Create a Print Book

Blogging: Tips, Tricks, and Knowing Your Goals

The Insecure Writer and Not Being Insecure

Today is December's contribution to Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.




Whew! I almost missed writing this month’s Insecure Writer post.

I suppose I could blame NaNo and the holidays for this lapse, but I think the real reason is that I don’t feel all that insecure this December. This might sound a bit surprising considering I only managed 25K words during NaNo, but I learned a lot about my writing methods in the last month and I’m feeling much better about this whole writing thing.

Of course, next month I’ll probably be insecure again, but that’s the life of a writer, isn’t it?

Here’s what I learned from NaNo.

1. I’m a slow writer. (LOL, I’ve known that for years) But I also learned I can write quickly as long as I have a good grasp of what a scene is about and where it’s headed. The scene will need massive revisions before anyone can see it, but my scenes always need massive revisions -- even when I write slowly.

2. I discovered I’m a plotser. No matter how much I plot beforehand, until I start putting the words down on paper I have no idea what the real plot will be until I finish the first draft. Angela Quarles apparently has the same problem.

3. As a result of all this re-plotting, my NaNo story is now far stronger than it was before. Yay!

4. Staying away from my original WIP for the last month has made me even more eager to get it finished.

That's all for now.  I promise to be more insecure next month – assuming we all survive the 21st of December, that is.