Readers long to feel connected to the characters they are reading about, but they often find the first person POV irritating. This gap allowed the third-person deep POV to evolve. Also known as the close or intimate third-person, this POV has become incredibly popular in the last 40 years.
The deep POV reveals the thoughts and emotions of one character, taking readers deep into their psyche. The main character is both an actor in the story and the narrator. To write in the deep POV, you need to develop a strong voice for your narrator to captivate your readers.
The Advantages of Third-Person Deep POV
The deep POV allows us to dive into a character’s mind and see the story through their eyes. Done well, the deep POV can make us feel that we are the main character.
When you are writing from a deep POV, you eliminate telling from your writing and instead show what is happening in your novel. You can eliminate thought tags from your writing; instead, you can just write these directly into your text. This is more immersive for your readers.
The Disadvantages of Third-Person Deep POV
However, because the deep POV requires the narrator to have such a strong voice, it can be hard for new or inexperienced authors to get it right. Likewise, if readers don’t like your voice, you might put them off reading your novel.
Because readers hear the story directly from the main character, it’s really important not to spend too much time inside the character’s head, having them think rather than act. Too much internal monologue slows the story down and isn’t recommended.
Finally, you can’t talk about anything your character doesn’t know because we’re in their head. Conversely, if your character knows, the reader will know, so it can be hard to create suspense.
Using Multiple Viewpoint Characters
Some novels require multiple viewpoint characters. Deep POV is great for this because we can get to know more than one character intimately. However, you also need to be wary that you don’t have too many deep POVs because readers won’t be able to be so intimate with lots of characters.
Conclusion
Deep POVs are popular in romance and literary novels because they allow us to get right into the character’s heads and give us a more intimate experience. But, if you need more distance from your characters, deep POV isn’t for you. If you’re curious, why not try writing deep POV?
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