Writing Deep Viewpoint

by Kathy Tyers

There is no single component of the writing craft as vital to good fiction, and to developing an artistic voice, as point of view.  The term covers a great deal of ground, but basically boils down to sharing the world of your characters, starting from within.  Writing Deep Viewpoint helps establish a foundation from which a novelist can spread artistic wings and fly.  Highly recommended.             Davis Bunn, NYT bestselling author. The Key to Great Fiction Why is deep viewpoint vital for hooking and holding your readers? Who is narrating each scene of your story? What are readers really looking for when they pick up a novel? Where does the real action of a written story take place? What are the two most important rules of storytelling? When should viewpoint be established? Deep viewpoint can convince your readers that they have become your characters. This powerful writing-craft skill set includes showing instead of telling, maintaining story flow, attributing dialogue effectively, and showing characters interact with convincing antagonists and believable settings. Writing coach, editor, and New York Times best-selling author Kathy Tyers presents a short powerful set of writing-craft tools in Writing Deep Viewpoint.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

164 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 14, 2017

About the author

She is the first child of Dr. H.C. Moore, an accomplished dentist and jazz musician who had served during WWII as a test pilot, and Barbara Putnam Moore, flutist with several California orchestras.

Kathy attended Montana State University in Bozeman, where she received a degree in microbiology, married, performed widely on her flute, and then became certified as a K-12 classroom teacher. After teaching primary grades for three years, she retired to start a family. Her only son took long naps and enjoyed playing alone, so in 1983 she set her electric typewriter on her kitchen table and started writing a book. Shortly after finishing the first draft, she joined a writers group, where she learned to critique and self-edit. First novel FIREBIRD was published by Bantam Spectra books in 1987, followed by FUSION FIRE, CRYSTAL WITNESS, and SHIVERING WORLD.

In 1993, her Bantam Spectra editor asked if she’d like to be a Star Wars © writer. THE TRUCE AT BAKURA hit the bestseller list, and life got hectic, exciting, and generally crazy for a while.

After one more novel for Bantam Spectra (ONE MIND’S EYE), Kathy took a sabbatical to deal with family issues. Targeting the Christian Booksellers Association market, she attended several writers conferences before concluding that no CBA publisher was interested in science fiction. She made three attempts to write a contemporary women’s novel, then turned back to her secret passion, which was to revive the unfinished FIREBIRD series. A year later, she connected with Steve Laube of Bethany House Publishers. Laube, a science fiction fan, was willing to take a risk on the project. Rewritten to enhance their underlying spiritual themes, FIREBIRD and FUSION FIRE reappeared in 1999 and 2000, followed in 2000 by a third Firebird novel, CROWN OF FIRE. Meanwhile, the call to write Star Wars came again, this time from Del Rey Books. NEW JEDI ORDER: BALANCE POINT was also a 2000 release.

In 2001, Kathy received the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference’s Pacesetter award for her efforts in the growing Christian science fiction genre. However, during the years that followed, worsening family troubles forced another sabbatical. Another SF novel was started but shelved. Bethany House asked for a new edition of SHIVERING WORLD, which Kathy completed while working at a retail greenhouse.

Kathy was widowed in 2004 and returned to school in 2006. Also in 2006, she completed working with classical guitarist Christopher Parkening on his autobiography, GRACE LIKE A RIVER. She has received a Diploma of Christian Studies from Regent College in Vancouver, BC, and she is working on toward a Master’s degree, mentoring several apprentice writers through the Christian Writers Guild, and drafting a new science fiction novel. Her Canadian experience includes worshipping at a marvelous Anglican church with stained-glass windows, kneeling rails, and challenging Scriptural preaching.

In October 2014 Kathy married William Thomas Gillin.

Reviews

[Pegg · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a writer, if you even think you *might* want to be a writer, then you need to read this book. Point of view (POV) is a difficult thing to explain. Kathy Tyers has made it simple, digestible, and understandable. Get it. Read it. APPLY it. You'll be a better writer if you do.

[J.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were a few things in this book that caused me to stumble. Mostly, the author seemed to have moments where she lost her confidence when sharing her own work or when she went off on bunny trails.
Still, this is by far the best resource on POV I've picked up yet. It's a favorite pet peeve of mine and I wish more authors would take the time to fully understand POV before they throw themselves into a writing project. It's the number one thing that makes or breaks a book for me, as much as I try to ignore my writer's brain while reading.
Because it's so important to me, I've studied like crazy about Third Person, Deep POV which is my current favorite tool. (though who knows, I might try first person or even omniscient at some point when I feel a bit more confident) Most resources start and end with "eliminate filtering" which is great, but it isn't all there is! This book went in depth and introduced a lot of concepts that I hadn't even thought of before.
Great book. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their craft. The only thing I didn't see addressed that I really wanted to learn more about was Character Voice, but I think that most of that is just a matter of experience anyway.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an award winning author, I've read a library of craft books. Few bring forward key elements quite so clearly as Tyers' book. Writing Deep Viewpoint is filled with examples—how I learn—and the exercises coax out writing skills I didn't know I possessed. I'll be keeping this book close by as I edit.

[Anna Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me a lot to think about regarding the viewpoint and how I've probably been doing it wrong. LOL

It's heavy on examples, which helps you figure out what's good and what's bad and WHY THE HECK DIDN'T I SEE THAT.

It also has a handy self-editing checklist at the end of the book.

[Zackary Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on writing craft. Clear instruction and helpful examples. Shows you why some novels feel immersive while others are shallow experiences.

[Amy M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed when I first received this book through Amazon ordering and found that it wasn't that long but it made for a short and sweet read. I have to say that I did A LOT of highlighting for future reference, even though there were some things that Tyers suggested in doing that I didn't always agree with and sort of made me kind of hate my own writing and feel like I was doing everything wrong but as I've heard a lot of people say, you don't have to follow anyone else's style or pattern of writing. They are only suggestions so write it the way you want to write it.

Over all, the book taught me a lot of things and helpful techniques for me to integrate in my own writing, was very well organized with great examples and also very informative for anyone looking to use deep POV in their writing and to do it right. It's a great reference to go back to time and time again or do like I did: highlight the important parts and then copy them down in a separate notebook for easier and faster reference.

[K.L. Miracle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a great book on writing! It is specifically for writing in deep viewpoint for third person, though the other viewpoints are touched upon. It's also full of showing vs telling examples, ways to avoid purple prose, avoiding R.U.E., and identifying weak words and adverbs that detract from what Kathy calls 'story time.'

I started reading this book between my first and second draft and I was so glad I did. It's already helped improve my next draft drastically.

I highly recommend this for anyone wondering what to do after they've written 'the end' on their first draft.

[Karen Heenan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've written for years, and I read writing books the way cooks read cookbooks, recreationally but not necessarily expecting to learn something new. I learned something here, and I'm still working to put it into practice, because writing deep viewpoint - writing third person so deeply felt that it comes across as first - is a lot harder than it looks. But the result is worth it, so if you're looking to improve your writing, I'd recommend giving this a chance.

[Mikisha Silvera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last book you'll ever need!

Look no further for a good lesson on the craft of writing fiction. Grammar, punctuation, and those books teaching to write sentences will suffice as a companion. Reading too many books will confuse and contribute to one's procrastination; this covers all the bases—declutter your mind, and make information overload a thing of the past. Read this and write your best seller now!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fabulous "back-to-basics" crash-course told in 160 pages. For the new writer, this is a tremendous resource on writing deep POV--and how it affects many other elements of great storytelling. For the more established writer, it's a great review of what they've already learned. This will be one resource I keep on my shelf to re-read on occasion whenever I need a refresher.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love her examples

A Word Weaver member recommended this book and I'm glad she did. I'm writing adult fiction for the first time and now feel comfortable with a solid sense of POV under my belt. The structure of lesson followed by examples is my happy place for learning. She managed to teach a challenging subject at an easy pace without overwhelming. Well done! Recommended.

[Jae · Rating 5 out of 5]

One if the best books on the actual craft of writing I have ever read. This book, filled with great examples and concise explanations, helped me actually learn something and improve my writing. Highly recommend!

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introductory guide to writing deep viewpoint. There are probably better choices for more advanced writers, but if you want to learn about viewpoint or critique partners keep calling you on viewpoint or voice issues, this might be a good place to start.

[Karla Melendez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that explains clearly and with a lot of examples how to master deep viewpoint in third-person POV, past tense. Of course the technique can be extrapolated to other tenses and POVs. Includes exercises.

[Ruth Schmeckpeper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent craft book for explaining the aspects of POV. Great examples and latest tips for common-sense writing. My new favorite craft book!

[J.W. Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has some great ideas to give your writing the right perspective and POV. Make your stories flow easier for your readers and learn how to bring your scenes and characters to life!

[Catherine Richmond]

This is the first book you should read when you start writing, but it's helpful for experienced writers, too. The examples were helpful.

[Ruth E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear exposition of the choices the writer has for writing pov.

[Patricia Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best craft-building books for authors that I've read. I learned more about POV in this short book than from any other source I've found. Easy reading and valuable tools in every chapter. This is a book that warrants reading over again and again.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-have for novelists, this book dives deep into the differences between first, third, and omniscient points of view. The book is full of advice I've given to authors many times; it was like she'd stolen questions right from my email!

I've recommended this a dozen times and will continue to do so.