06/20/2025
This book was recommended by my author friend Pete Lester after a discussion on deep point of view. He is a fan of Lisa Hall-Wilson’s instruction so I gave her book a go. There are real gems in this book that absolutely sent me down the right path. Paraphrasing of course, some of my favorite were; don’t tell your reader how to think about something, show them the evidence of why they too should think about it. In sentences where you might put “Her eyes looked at the chalkboard”, consider in Deep POV that the character wouldn’t think about their own eyes, unless there was a specific reason to think about them. Filter the thoughts through the character, as to what they are thinking, when you are in close, and it will be much easier to keep your character closer. And by absolute favorite; ask yourself if the reader needs to know something, or are you just putting it so the reader knows how clever you are for thinking it. That one hit me hard, as I am always thinking up neat ideas I want the reader to know I had, even if they don’t support the story.
My only criticism of this book is in the formatting, not the content. It makes no sense for the lack of structure in terms of page numbers or a table of contents. This is a reference book, but it feels like it was just printed out from word. For a book with such fantastic information, I think people might pass on it not realizing the good within.
2025-28
