My first writing experience took place in the 2nd grade when Sister Anastasia allowed me to put on my plays  for my classmates. I suppose this was also my acting and directorial debut. She gave me a box of colored chalk and I drew scenery on the three chalkboards. So that meant I could have a 3 act play. Casting was no problem because everyone wanted a part. I had to   copy each script by hand so that the parts could be read.
After this great start, the voices in my head grew louder and now I write every day. I have issued a challenge to writers to write at least 100 words for 100 days. After the first 100 days, writing will hopefully be a habit, like brushing your teeth. The result is more productivity and perhaps better writing, because the key to improving your writing is to write. ..Lots!
My books can be found on Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords

     Today, I want to explore what Deep Point of View means to the person who reads your fiction? It is not even realistic to think that you could or should write an entire novel in Deep POV. Part of the substance of a well-crafted novel is the rhythm. The ebb and flow, the rise and fall of the tension. Moving from description and setting to introspection and into the mind of the character provides the current running through the story. I’m sure you have read something where the author went on and on about setting, or got lost in unloading tons of irrelevant backstory. This is when the flow gets dammed up in a stagnant pool. To keep the flow going, you have to determine what is just right. . .not too little or too much of any one element but a balance.

     When the reader is on a page written in Deep POV, they should be so deep inside the character’s head they become the character. They enter the room as the character; see only what the character sees, notices what they notice. Any sensory experience the character experiences would be the same for the reader. The reader will experience the same emotions the character is feeling.

     Deep POV may be written in first or third person. Whatever you choose, you must be able to show the reaction of any other characters in the scene only through the eyes of the character in whose head you are writing. Here is a quick excerpt written in Deep POV:

     John unlocked the door. He stood on the porch for a moment, steeling himself against the flood of memories threatening to swamp him. He gave the door a nudge and it swung open, the hinge still squeaking because she would never think to oil it. Maybe he should have stayed. Maybe if he had, Jen wouldn’t be dead.          
     He swallowed the taste of bile and stepped inside. The scent of gardenias, her favorite, filled his senses, choked him with recollection. His fingers shook as he reached for the switch and the crystal chandelier spangled the foyer with light. Too much. Too much. The room crushed him. Furniture and art work pressed in from all sides. Perhaps this was why his apartment was so sparsely furnished. 
     A pile of papers to the right of the door had spilled through the mail slot. He gathered them and sorted quickly before dropping everything on the credenza. The letter that fell on top caught his eye. He realized he had stopped breathing. It was written in Jen’s own handwriting.    
     In this short introduction, a man entered a house and picked up the mail by the door. This is all of the action that took place. But in Deep POV you are in his head and you see what he sees; feels what he feels. You notice that not once did I write, “he felt…”   
        
     Describing a character’s feelings externally can come off as distancing the reader. Showing the character’s feelings from the inside makes the character more important to the reader. This makes the character easier for the reader to know. You will also notice that I didn’t bore you with a description of the room, but you can see it through his eyes and the way he feels about it. We do not care that the Victorian sofa is covered in pink velvet. We do care that the room is overstuffed with furniture and artwork and that it stifles, crushes John.  We want to know why. We don’t know if Jen is his former lover or spouse, his mother or sister or a co-worker, but we do know that she is important to John. He is experiencing strong feelings. Hopefully, it would make the reader want to turn the page. 

         On May 1st I jumped off the cliff into the world of the Indie-Pub. I will either fall on my face or grow wings. There is so much technology involved in formatting and uploading to the various e-book publishing platforms, my brain is stuffed to the max. But it can't be, because there is still so much more to assimilate. 
        My humorous contemporary romance, Painted Lady, is now available on Amazon, B&N, Smashwords and XinXii. I have been fortunate to receive some positive and heartening reviews. 
         As a writer, creating the product is only half the process. It's like bouncing a ball against a brick wall. You need it to bounce back to you. When someone reads and reviews, it feels like, "I did get it right." My creation made one person laugh (or cry, or scared them). I think this is the validation we need. Just to make you feel what our character feels. 
Happy reading!