Belief 03

Immersion

We don't get lost in a story to escape reality — we do it to rehearse reality. Point of view is the machinery that lets us.

Novelist · members' unit

Immersion is behind a locked door

The Novelist page and Study are open to everyone. The other 9 units are enrollment-only.

What's in this unit · 11 min read

  1. The chain
  2. Point of view is four dials, not three options
  3. The three ways to break the dream
  4. Calibrate the reader against your hero
  5. What the dream is about: three deaths
  6. Three ways to deliver an emotion
  7. Undercutting: why labels numb
  8. The bill for immersion

6 quick checksbefore/after editsline-edit labPOV comparison

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Sources

  • John Gardner — The Art of Fiction
  • Lisa Cron — Story Genius
  • Alicia Rasley — The Power of Point of View
  • Molly McCowan — Effective Editing (The Great Courses)
  • James Hynes — Writing Great Fiction (The Great Courses)
  • James Scott Bell — How to Write Best-Selling Fiction (The Great Courses)
  • Donald Maass — Writing the Breakout Novel
  • Dan Wells — on reader calibration, Intentionally Blank