It should also be stressed that the writer should not try to do every single scene and every single chapter in deep pov, it’s exhausting for them and the reader. Articles like this and others don’t say this, it’s really import to know this to avoid burn out! Deep pov should be saved for when it’s needed and the rest of the time do a deep pov-ish third person that suits the story/characters.

IMOP from what’s naturally happened in the book so far, along with the feedback I’ve gotten is that deep pov makes it *more* mysterious and easier to set up foreshadowing (people are surprised but then go along the lines of “of course” such and such was in another chapter or the item that she found/saw and such makes sense now. New characters can be made to give clues and such too. The setting is “alive” and can also help. You just have to re-read the from the start and find the right spot to put in what’s needed for the main pov to notice it or naturally meat up with the suspicious person. I’m not explaining this as well as I should be but it can be done. I had to figure out how to get a few clues believe it or not in my wip (fantasy) because a few chapters past the middle of the book the whole plot fell apart as there was stuff missing about the mysterious god, where the main pov came from, whey she’s on a mission and a few other things critical to getting the dang story to move forward.

She’s not the most trusting so doesn’t just blab out what she knows about what’s going on so even the friends she’s made don’t know why (I’m still working on that.) She does know something is deeply wrong and is picking up clues here and there as to what’s really going on. so the reader and the main pov are both unraveling the mystery together. Going back to the starting chapters and working forward from there to add in approp foreshadowing along with little bites of info from people can totally work.

It’s kind of think a choose your own adventure mystery style. 😀 Just have to be extra careful to say in deep ov and find ways not to tell. ^-^ It’s HARD though i’ve been at this for about five years *GERR* main due to having to revise twice as the old ending didn’t work at all after the second revision. So that’s been fun. Logic is your friend but when that just can’t work make it up! xD

I’ve unfortunately fallen into that trap myself when looking into the writing of published books, or critiquing a writing partner’s text. (Thankfully, that particular text became better for it, but it could just as quickly have gone the wrong way.)
I shall be more careful going forward.

Thank you for this post.

Suggestion: Read “As I Lay Dying” by William Faulkner.
William Faulkner is right up there with Ernest Hemingway.
“As I Lay Dying is a 1930 Southern Gothic novel by American author William Faulkner. Faulkner’s fifth novel, it is consistently ranked among the best novels of 20th-century literature.
“The novel utilizes stream-of-consciousness writing technique, multiple narrators, and varying chapter lengths.”

Yeah, deep pov is great but it has its limitations. Sometimes you need to use telling or author intrusion – it’s simply more expedient or you’re making a point with it. The effects each “rule” aims to create is what’s important to learn. Then you can create those effects when and where you need them – whether it’s over a whole novel or for key scenes. Not using deep pov isn’t wrong, but a lot of people misunderstand and think they’re writing deep pov when they’re not.

Awesome. You should head over to the Facebook group. I’m doing free critiques all week.

I think deep pov is popular, and it’s popular for a reason, but it should never be the only option available. I receive some negative feedback from people who believe this style is too restrictive. Too much work for readers. Too intense. Doesn’t mean those writers couldn’t use deep pov for key scenes or moments in their novels where they’re looking for that emotional gut punch for readers instead of their entire novel. There has to be room for all these kinds of stories.