Welcome to the second post in Karen Witemeyer's Deep POV series. Hasn't this been helpful? Read on!
How
to Capture your POV Characters' Voices
Here are a few basic guidelines for
writing in deep POV.
·
Keep POV pure –
one per scene.
Head-hopping
kills deep POV. The whole point of writing in deep POV is for your readers to
experience the story vicariously through your POV character. If you jump into
another character's head you break that bond. Yes, there are best-selling
authors who head-hop, but I would argue that they aren't writing with deep POV.
·
Get to know your
character so intimately that you can easily take on their thoughts and emotions.
When you are
first learning how to do this you might find it helpful to interview your
characters or journal as if you were the character. You might write a scene in first
person then change the pronouns to make it third person. Delve your own thought
and emotions for inspiration.
·
Reduce tags and
limit use of character's name.
There are
certainly times where a character's name needs to be used for clarification in
a scene or when the writing flow needs something different than the repetitive
use of a pronoun. However, since people don't naturally think of themselves in
the third person, limit the use of names to help deepen the POV.
·
Eliminate head
words.
He thought. She
wondered. He noticed. She knew. Watch out for variations on these head words and
kill as many as you can. They distance your reader from your character by
telling instead of showing. There are times when these words are appropriate
and can be used to great effect, but for the most part, get rid of them and
express the thought directly.
She gazed at the door and wondered if John would
show up like he'd promised or leave her stranded again.
vs.
Her gaze swung to the door. Where was he? John had
promised not to leave her stranded this time. Why couldn't the boy act
responsibly for once in his life?
After you get
the basics down, you can move into the more advanced stages of deepening your
character's POV.
Infuse the narrative with your POV character's
personality and speaking style.
·
Use the same
style in your narrative as you use in your POV character's dialog.
If your hero
tends to talk in clipped sentences, sprinkle a few sentence fragments into the
narrative. Use language in your descriptions that he would use. Throw in one of
his pet phrases once in a while.
·
Add humor,
sarcasm, prejudices, attitudes, misconceptions, etc.
Use the
character's personality to flavor the narrative. This is a great way to add
humor or demonstrate misconceptions. Perhaps your heroine would think something
catty about the woman who fired her even though she'd never utter the words aloud. Have fun with this. Show us her
thoughts. Make her human and relatable.
·
Each POV
character's voice must be distinct.
We've all heard
that a reader should be able to identity which character is speaking simply by
the way the dialog is crafted. It is the same principle for narrative voice.
Scenes written in the heroine's POV should feel different than those written in
the hero's POV.
Next
week: Deepen POV by deepening the portrayal of emotion.
~~~~~
Short-Straw Bride released June 1, 2012.
No one steps on Archer land. Not if they value their life. But when
Meredith Hayes overhears a lethal plot to burn the Archer brothers off
their ranch, a twelve-year-old debt compels her to take the risk. Fourteen years of constant vigilance hardens a man. Yet when Travis Archer confronts a female trespasser with the same vivid blue eyes as the courageous young girl he once aided, he can't bring himself to send her away. And when an act of sacrifice leaves her injured and her reputation in shreds, gratitude and guilt send him riding to her rescue once again.
Four brothers. Four straws. One bride. Despite the fact that Travis is no longer the gallant youth Meredith once dreamed about, she determines to stand by his side against the enemy that threatens them both. But will love ever be hers? Or will Travis always see her merely as a short-straw bride?
~~~~~
Two-time RITA® Finalist and winner of the coveted HOLT Medallion, CBA bestselling author, Karen Witemeyer, writes historical romance fiction for Bethany House, believing that the world needs more happily-ever-afters. She is an avid cross-stitcher, shower singer, and bakes a mean apple cobbler. Karen makes her home in Abilene, TX with her husband and three children. Learn more about Karen and her books at: www.karenwitemeyer.com.
