Throughout the years, I’ve purchased my share of “how to” books on writing fiction, but this one was worth mentioning because it is short and very comprehensive. I purchased Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point ofView two weeks ago, and like many books I plan to read, it sat on the bar until I could find the time to get some reading done. This almost never happens, but when we decided to make a trip to St. Augustine, I packed an overnight bag and grabbed my book off the bar on our way out the door. I’m so glad I did!
Only fifty nine pages, it is full of information related to getting into your characters’ heads and staying there. Jill Elizabeth Nelson provides a brief summary of POV terms and concepts before introducing the Deep POV methods she uses to keep her readers riveted. In several of her chapters, she provides examples and exercises which help when applying these methods. She also provides her own revisions for comparison.
Ms. Nelson doesn’t just tell the reader how something should be done, she shows by the examples she provides in the book. She shows how a shallow sentence can be transformed into a tight, Deep POV sentence.
She discusses everything from Narrative Distance to Prepositional Tells to Sensory Tells. These are all exceptional topics and after reading about them, I am anxious to begin transforming much of my own pages.
My favorite transformation from this book:
Shallow: With smug satisfaction, he turned in the perfect paper.
Deep: He smirked and dropped the paper onto the teacher’s desk. Shazam! Let’s see Mr. Perfectionist give him anything less than an “A” on this one.
If you haven't read this one, I think you will enjoy it. Have you read any "how to" books lately which have you excited about writing? Please share!
