Live in Deep POV
A year ago I sent a manuscript I was working on to be critiqued by a writing professional. I had worked very hard and diligently on this story and I thought it was very good. New to the writing I had never attended a writing conference or taken a writing course outside of college.
I had so much to learn.
The kind editor assured me I wasn’t a bad writer, but I could improve the story I brought to life. The biggest piece of advice she gave me was to write my story in Deep POV, which stands for deep point of view. This means the words I write fade away and become the words of the main character. In Deep POV the protagonist shares their own story allowing the reader to go on an incredible journey the minute they open the cover of the book. Obviously, this is a better and fulfilling way for a writer to share a story that’s on their heart, but as a novice writer, these suggestions overwhelmed me.
I stepped away from that manuscript so I could grow and learn as a writer. The most recent writer's conference I attended I pitched the same story critiqued a year ago to an acquisition’s editor and received interest. It excited me because I knew I had matured as a writer where I could now implement the changes to enrich and strengthen the story I began writing many years ago.
I’ve begun working on the process to transform the words I wrote into the words of the young Jewish woman I created. It’s been such an enlightening experience as a writer and I’ve grown in my craft.
The funny thing is though, I never imagined God would teach me a profound lesson while learning to write in Deep POV. This epiphany came as I took notes during my Deep POV course— as Christians, we should live our lives in Deep POV.
Imagine this…
Our vessel, the shell our soul resides in is a book with a wonderful, exciting tale inside filled with heartbreaking trials, victorious triumphs, and gasping plot twists. Every single story is different, except for one common core similarity: Our main character is Jesus Christ. Matthew 5:16 says “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.”
Jesus words in this gospel prove that every person we come in contact with is a “reader” who will read the words on our pages. What will they read? Who will they see? Will they go on a journey with Jesus Christ because we are allowing Him to write our story? If we’re serving God then we should want to give our readers a deeper and fulfilling experience with Him.
How do we as Christians apply this writing technique as a spiritual application? The answer lies in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such, there is no law.” If our character portrays these nine traits, then we will fade into the background and those around us who read our story will see Christ and be able to experience Jesus on a more satisfying and fulfilling level. Each person we encounter will leave us knowing they have had read a good “book,” because we are living in Deep POV.
