Deep POV? What's that?

My editor sent me back my YA novel manuscript (Tangi's Teardrops) two weeks ago. Most of the comments that decorated the manuscript were, "Narrative telling. rewrite in deep POV".
I've heard about writing in deep POV before and I also know that it's not one of the easiest skills to master.
On the other hand, many writers write in deep POV without even knowing it. Even me. In my contemporary romance novel, I nailed it--according to my editor at least--but I never really thought about it while writing. Until now.

Well, I'm rewriting the whole YA manuscript at the moment and learning with every page. I have to admit, my novel is becoming more alive.

For those of you who are confused about Deep POV, here are a few links I found to be helpful (including quotes to whet your appetites):

PART FOUR-Deep POV
"A skill that leads straight into strong, emotive writing is Deep Point Of View. And I mean deep. This is often a very hard skill to conquer, but it's so effective I felt it needed a whole day's work." (WOW; Women On Writing)

Deep POV
"Another term for “Deep POV” is limited Third Person. It’s a technique that infuses Third Person POV with the intimacy of First Person" (Maeve Maddox)

5 Tips For Writing Deep POV
“What is the key to spellbinding, page-turning writing? Emotional connection between your readers and your characters! Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, learning the secrets of deep POV will make your writing come alive in the hearts of your readers.” (Simon Presland)

How Deep POV Helped Me Achieve Publication by Pamela S. Meyers

"I had never heard of Deep POV, but I sure did learn about it in a hurry. As I added it to the story I was amazed at how much richer my story read." 

Go Deep! Eliminate Distancing Phrases for Deep POV
"One of her tips you see a lot: eliminate distancing phrases like ‘he said’, ‘he heard’, etc. This is almost always covered in any blog post on Deep POV."

Don't wait for inspiration...Just write!

I know there's nothing more fulfilling than those days when your well of ideas is filled to the brim and you can't seem to write them down fast enough. Like other writers, I love those days. But as we all know, that doesn't happen all the time.

When no inspiration strikes, a writer has two choices--to sit and wait for the muse to finally find them or to go ahead and write anyway.

I used to be one of those people that waited and waited for inspiration. When it finally arrived, there was nothing better. When it didn't, there was nothing more frustrating. I soon found out it might be better to stop waiting and start writing.

What I found is that it might be hard to start writing at first, but often (for me at least) inspiration caught up eventually and it was even more rewarding in the end. I call it creating my own inspiration and it really does work most of the time. If I continued waiting for inspiration, I would never have finished writing most of my manuscripts.

Two weeks ago, I finished my YA novel, Tangi's Teardrops.
If you remember, a few weeks before that, I mentioned that even though the novel was initially meant for middle grade readers, some of my friends from critique circle said it would be better suited for young adults. But the novel was complete and I had no idea where I was going to pull all the ideas from in order to increase the word count. Of course there was a lot more than just increasing the word count. A complete rewrite was required.

To cut the long story short, I did eventually find the ideas and to tell you the truth I'm still amazed at how much I came up with in such a short amount of time. Some days had been easier than others.

During the two week period, I refused to stop writing even when I felt I wasn't inspired enough. I sat my butt down and wrote anyway. After a while, ideas started flowing and before I knew it, I had written, The End.
Last week I submitted the manuscript to my editor. I plan to self publish the novel before the end of the year and I'm so excited.

In December I also plan to send out query letters for my contemporary romance novel, Chocolate Aftertaste, which is ready (I just dread the process of writing query letters and synopses).

All in all, by finally testing the waters of both traditional publishing as well as self-publishing, I believe I will be ending the year right.

Here are 3 great articles on the topic of inspiration or lack thereof:
Why you should stop waiting for inspiration
 Mistake no. 39: waiting for inspiration
Waiting for inspiration-is a bunch of hooey

Before I go, here are two refreshing photo inspiration for you. They were taken during my honeymoon in Rhodes, Greece over a year ago.

Writing is like a warm bubble bath

Dear readers,

Have you ever felt that writing is your safe haven? I do. Last week I didn't have such a great week and it was work related (My fake job, which pays the bills as opposed to my real job, writing).
Anyway, on Friday, I was really stressed and a little low when I got home. Then I thought about the novel that I'm currently writing and just felt an immediate lift of spirit. Sometimes during the day when something doesn't go my way, I also just think about myself as a writer, my books and everything that goes with it and I feel so much better. That is the real me and in my world as a writer, I can can dream and create people, places and circumstances from nothing. I can be myself and have things the way I want them to be. Writing, to me, is like a warm bubble bath after a long stressful day or warm, cuddly socks on a cold. Once I sink myself into it, everything is okay with the world.  I can step out of the real world and create my own.
I really thank God for my talent. I can't imagine not being a writer. It's just the most beautiful gift anyone could have given me.
How does being a writer make you feel?

Hugs

Liz

The issue of pen names

Hallo readers,

In case you don't know already, Liz Davis is my pen name. Liz comes from my first name, Elizabeth and for Davis, I took my father's name (David) and replaced the d with an s. My real name or should I say, names are, Elizabeth Grace Tangi Adewole.
I'm not sure how many of you use a pen name or are considering using one, but I think it's an interesting topic to discuss. Since I write contemporary romance novels as well as children's books,I'll be using two pen names for each genre.

The research I've done online gives several reasons why writers use pen names. Here are a few articles I found useful.

A rose  by any other name: pros and cons of pseudonyms
Writing under a pen name: when should an author use a pseudonym?
Should authors use a pen name?
Pen names: do you know the true identity of your favourite author?

Is my novel really Middle grade or YA?

Two weeks ago I submitted a few chapters of my children's novel to my online critique circle. Initially, my novel was meant to target the middle grade group, but some of the comments I received believed that it would be more suited for young adults.
I did a bit of research on the differences between the two and got some pretty useful information. I read my novel again and realized it was just too mature for the middle grade group. I've finally accepted that I was targeting the wrong group. Right now I'm writing on, with young adults in mind and I must say, it's great to know exactly where my novel fits.
Looks like I won't be needing those illustrations after all. I do look forward to the cover design, though.

For those of you who are confused by the two genres (like I was), here are some links that might be useful:

• Writing for children: age categories determine the guidelines for your children's book

•  Pinpointing the differences between middle grade and YA

• The differences between middle grade and young adult 

• 5 articles on the differences between middle grade and young adult 

• Am I writing YA or MG?

Tips from a literary agent

Lauren Boyd has a great list of some very useful tips straight from a literary agent. I was aware of some of the points, but some where new to me.
Over all, very helpful. If you need to add to your collection of tips, here's the link:
Lauren F. Boyd: My Path To Publication: Tips From a Literary Agent

Liz

Holly's Giveaway

Holly Castor is having a great giveaway. You win two books of your choice from The Book Depository. Very tempting isn't it? One can never have too many books...in my opinion.
If you're not tempted enough, here's the link to her blog: http://in-interest.blogspot.com/
Good luck.

Liz