Point Of View – 3rd Deep

Definition

Deep third person POV is when the narrative style reflects only the thoughts, experiences, and perceptions of the point of view character in the scene. It’s a way of mirroring the closeness of first person but in third person and bringing the reader into the character’s head.

Deep point of view is a way of writing fiction in third-person limited that silences the narrative voice and takes the reader directly into a character’s mind. While third-person limited writing attaches to a single character and refers to them by their name or pronouns, deep POV takes it one step further—eliminating filter words and writing as the character instead of about them.

Example of Deep 3^rd POV

For example, consider the following sentence:

He peered out the window. “Are they coming for me?” he wondered as he listened to the sound of distant hoofbeats.

The above could be written in deep POV as follows:

He peered out the window. Are they coming for me? Hoofbeats rumbled in the distance.

Books Written in Deep 3^rd POV

• Into the Night by Suzanne Brockmann
• Sole Survivor by Dean Koontz
• Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

Voice

As with first-person POV, a novel in deep third-person depends on a vibrant, strong narrative voice. The voice in the narration isn’t neutral; it’s the character’s voice, colored by her personality, background, and emotions.

Important things to keep in mind: mention only details that your POV character would notice, and the language of the narration needs to be that of the POV character. Remember, different people notice different things. What we notice also depends on our present emotional state. If your protagonist is running for his life, he won’t notice the lovely flowers blooming in the garden he’s fleeing through. If your POV character is a tough street cop, don’t write in a flowery or academic style. If you use metaphors and similes, make sure they fit the character.

Advantages

Immediate & Intimate

            Readers can bond closely and identify with the POV character.

Not Just One POV

            You don’t necessarily have to stick to just one POV for the entire book but you could have multiple viewpoint characters.

Eliminate Telling

            You have probably heard this common writing advice: show, don’t tell. Telling means giving your readers conclusion; You tell them what to think instead of letting them think for themselves. Showing means that you provide them with enough concrete, vivid details so that they can draw their own conclusions. If you’re writing from a deep POV, you’ll emanate telling from your writing and instead show your scenes.

Disadvantages

Likability Depends on Reader Liking POV Character’s Voice

            It all depends on the reader liking the POV character’s voice. Make sure it’s engaging enough and doesn’t become annoying.

Difficult If Different From You

Writing from a deep POV is difficult if the character is different from you.

Too Much Time In Character’s Head?

Be careful not to spend too much time in the character’s head, examining her thoughts and feelings while nothing is happening. Give him or her something to do.

Inability To Mention Things Characters Don’t Know

As in first-person and third-person limited, you can’t mention things your character doesn’t know. For example, you can’t reveal what other characters think or feel.

Can’t Keep Info From Readers

It’s difficult to keep information from the reader. If your POV character knows something and would logically be thinking about it in a scene, you can’t hide it from your readers. If you do, you’re cheating. For example, you can’t end a scene with the sentence she had a plan and not tell readers what that plan is.

Common Genres

Deep third-person POV is on the rise in pretty much all genres of modern fiction. It’s especially popular in romance novels.

Tips

If you are having trouble writing in a deep third-person POV, try writing a passage from a first-person POV and then replace “I” would “she” or “he”, depending on the gender of your POV character. Useful Tips include:

• Avoiding Filters. Filters are words that describe the POV character perceiving or thinking something.
• Avoid thinker attributions. If you are deeply in a character’s viewpoint, everything you write is the character’s perception, and your readers know that this is something that the character is thinking. For the same reason, you don’t use thinker attributions, also called dot tags, such as “she thought” or “he wondered.”
• Avoid italicized thoughts. Don’t italicize character thoughts. Keep them in third person and Roman type. In deep third-person POV, description, narrative, and character thoughts become indistinguishable.
• Avoid explanations. The POV character doesn’t need to explain things she already knows to herself. So if you are explaining the reasons for her actions or how magic works in your fantasy novel about a witch, you are violating POV. Sometimes, these POV violations can be very subtle.
• Avoid overusing the POV character’s name. If you think about yourself, you think “I”. You don’t think of yourself using your name. Their characters are the same. So, if you overuse the POV character’s name, it’s as if you are watching them from the outside instead of experiencing things through their eyes. Use pronouns such as “he” or “she” Can you give her that whenever possible.
• Use whatever name the POV character would use. For the non-POV characters, use whatever name the POV character would use. For example, calling a character Mr. Smith—not just in dialogue but also in the narrative—implies that the POV character doesn’t know him very well. But if Mr. Smith is the POV character’s father, don’t call him Mr. Smith. Instead of his last or first name, used Dad or pop or whatever the POV character would use.
• Use the 5 senses. to bring readers deep into the POV of your character, make use of the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch). Just remember to cut out the filters.