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McAnally's (The Community Pub) => Author Craft => Topic started by: Jacob Swift on August 16, 2006, 08:43:44 PM
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What do you think most readers enjoy about the different styles of P-O-V (points of view)? The piece I am currently working has gone through several different styles (and thus I have been diving into the insanity of schizophrenia), and I am honestly just curious: What would readers like, do you think? Third person, based on one person, or Thir person, based on many people?
Jacob Swift
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3rd person limited and 1st person are the two most used POVs today. I've heard readers say they like 1st person because you can get closer to the character and story, you can really get into it and the like. I don't think I've ever had anyone specifically say they prefer to read 3rd person, but I have heard people complain that there was no difference between two characters by the same author who used 1st person POV for both of the characters.
Basically, at the moment, 3rd person limited is effectively "invisible" to the reader. 1st person done well is something readers enjoy, but 1st person done poorly is noticed too.
(3rd person omni--3rd person based on many characters--is considered old fashioned. It's not used very often these days, and can be noticeable to a reader, as opposed to "invisible". Which doesn't mean it's bad. 2nd person is the odd bird out; it's not used widely outside of Choose Your Own Adventure books, but this doesn't mean you shouldn't use it. Use it if you want to.)
It really falls down to what you want to do as an author.
Personally, I used a very limited 3rd person for the majority of my characters. Only 2 of my characters speak in 1st person, and oddly enough they're both minor characters for the stories they are in, so I don't write 1st person very often. This is mostly because I am not confident I could "speak" more than one character in 1st POV and not have them sound the same. 3rd person lets you avoid that problem. The only reason I have the two 1st person characters is because they just popped out that way. :D
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Agreed. It really defends on the author's choice, and readers will want what best suits the characters and the plot. So it depends on your story. My first two series focus on one protagonist, so it was simpler to keep it 1st person. Another book I've toyed with depends on the views of several people, so that takes 3rd.
The one caution with 1st is that if you write multiple books in it, make sure you change your voice. Otherwise one book may be written from X's POV, and another book may be written from Y POV, but really, they're all from you and your voice.
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Just don't be Robert Anton Wilson and write in 1st person/many characters...in the same paragraph.
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3rd person limited and 1st person are the two most used POVs today. I've heard readers say they like 1st person because you can get closer to the character and story, you can really get into it and the like. I don't think I've ever had anyone specifically say they prefer to read 3rd person, but I have heard people complain that there was no difference between two characters by the same author who used 1st person POV for both of the characters.
This is true. I myself enjoy first person point of view. Although i think writing in it is actually a bit tougher, considering you have to really express emtions more than in third person, but this is just my personal feeling. As a writer of both, i feel that things come a lot more easily when im working in first person than third.
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I've written a single short story in first-person, and it turned out pretty well, but I prefer writing in 3rd-person. I like being able to get inside the heads of different characters (not within the same scene, obviously). I enjoy taking some time away from my protagonist to explore some things with his love interest, or get his best friend's view on what's going on with the two of them.
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It's nice to know that, for once, I can go to a forum that has other writers and actually get decent replies. Thank you very much for your opinions and advice; I will put them into the best mindset when I work again (after work.... I wish I had this career started)
Jacob Swift