Poll: For you writers here...

[Chancie]

I'm just curious about something, so here's a question for those of you that do a lot of creative writing, mainly fiction. What point of view do you typically prefer to use the most often? I've noticed that it really varies writer to writer and some are very critical because of view point alone. So, how about you guys?

 

[zen5887]

Considering the only writing I do is for D&D adventures, I'm going to say 2nd Person.

Booyah!

 

[Rylot]

What is second person perspective? It's been a while since I've had an English class but I don't remember anything about that.

 

[SilentCom]

I don't do a ton of writing but I still enjoy creative writing. I mainly use first person with some third and the occasional second just to add in an interesting perspective.

edit: second person is seeing the main character from another character's eyes.

 

[Jark212]

What is second person perspective? It's been a while since I've had an English class but I don't remember anything about that.

I thought that is when the story is told by someone in the story other than the protagonist, but I've been out of school for a while now...

I prefer writing from 3rd person prospective, I feel that it gives me more freedom with the story, to be able to give a glimpse from the perspective of other characters besides the main characters, and to be more descriptive about the environment and the world my story is set in...

 

[Uzbekistan]

Hmmm...
Yeah, mostly 3rd person. I'm doing a script now, so I guess that's first person too?

 

[Rylot]

What is second person perspective? It's been a while since I've had an English class but I don't remember anything about that.

I thought that is when the story is told by someone in the story other than the protagonist, but I've been out of school for a while now...

I prefer writing from 3rd person prospective, I feel that it gives me more freedom with the story, to be able to give a glimpse from the perspective of other characters besides the main characters, and to be more descriptive about the environment and the world my story is set in...

I thought that was still first person, but that kinda makes sense.

 

[ethan22122]

Depends on what I'm writing, I tend to vary between them.

 

[Cogwheel]

Play-by-post games? Third person.

Actual stories are in first person, but I may switch to third for future ones.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I mostly do third person, only because I feel I can describe the surroundings without having to have the character comment on everything that I want to showcase. I think this is mostly because I use a lot of metaphors and whatnot, not that I use it as a crutch, but I just want the reader get the same image that I'm thinking. Which I should probably stop doing, I will admit.

I am experimenting with first person though, I haven't found a happy medium, but I'm getting there.

 

[Jark212]

What is second person perspective? It's been a while since I've had an English class but I don't remember anything about that.

I thought that is when the story is told by someone in the story other than the protagonist, but I've been out of school for a while now...

I thought that was still first person, but that kinda makes sense.

I honestly just barely remember something like it from my HS English days but there was a writing style that was like this but I think it was called 2nd person limited prospective or something along those lines. I tend to stick mostly to 3rd or 1st on occasion to keep myself from getting too confused...

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I do mainly script writing, so it's exclusively third person. Even if I was writing a novel, I don't really like first person, because the reader knows you can't kill off your main character that way unless you do it in like, present tense or something which is just a hard writing style to work with. Unless the focus of what you're writing is psychological, I wouldn't really recommend first person.

I honestly just barely remember something like it from my HS English days but there was a writing style that was like this but I think it was called 2nd person limited prospective or something along those lines. I tend to stick mostly to 3rd or 1st on occasion to keep myself from getting too confused...

Second person is like, choose your own adventure book type stuff. So it's like "you walk across the room and grab the flashlight" type stuff. If you're doing a strait up narrative it'd be a really difficult perspective to use.

 

[Saelune]

What is second person perspective? It's been a while since I've had an English class but I don't remember anything about that.

2nd person is when it is directed at YOU, but not by you. "You walk down the hall and hear something in the room ahead..." and often next would be a choice, a "What would you do?" In books it would give you choices and a page to turn to. In DnD, which started this question, the player decided and the DM complies.

First Person: I
Second Person: You
Third Person: They/He/She

 

[DasDestroyer]

I prefer Third Person, especially when writing fiction. [sub]not that I write non-fiction...[/sub]

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

Oh, wow. I meant to say 3rd person, but I clicked 2nd. Whoops.

Anyway....3rd person. Yeah.

 

[Sorafrosty]

Definitely third person. I've tried using first person before, but for some reason, it just doesn't feel comfortable for me to write in...

 

[mythlover20]

What is second person perspective? It's been a while since I've had an English class but I don't remember anything about that.

I thought that is when the story is told by someone in the story other than the protagonist, but I've been out of school for a while now...

I thought that was still first person, but that kinda makes sense.

I honestly just barely remember something like it from my HS English days but there was a writing style that was like this but I think it was called 2nd person limited prospective or something along those lines. I tend to stick mostly to 3rd or 1st on occasion to keep myself from getting too confused...

ok, to simplify this for all of you, it basically comes down to which pronouns you use.

First Person: "I" "Me" and "We". This story is written as if you yourself are in the story.
Second Person: "You". Typically used for choose-our-own adventure stories. You're basic ally telling someone else that this is what they are doing.
Third Person: "He" "She" and "They". This is what is mostly used, because it give a much more omnipresent point of view. ie the narrator (you) knows everything, including the inner emotions of all the characters, and this makes it easier to switch between different characters in the tale while still remaining coherent. is is in fact only a rather small percentage that are written in first person. Second is so rare as to be almost non-existant.

I personally write in a combination of third person past and present tense, because i really should write in past (makes everything much more clearer), but some of my points i like to make would have more of an impact in present. it's a flaw and no writer should ever switch between tenses (ie. past: he did; present: he's doing; and future: he will do) because it just confuses the reader. and the writer.

 

[ReservoirAngel]

I like first person, but I find it more difficult to write it than I do third person.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Depends on what I'm writing, I tend to vary between them.

Pretty much this. I do a fair bit of writing when I get a bit of time to... my main 'project' is in first person while most other bits are done third person.

 

[Freechoice]

I find 3rd person to be universally higher quality because if you pick 1st, you start crossing into self-insert and it's a slippery slope from there on. 3rd is also easier to work with because you have a lot more freedom to explore characters (hell, even just stuff). Ironically, it's more self-serving because while 1st person sets yourself (the author) in the character's shoes, 3rd person sets yourself as god. I also find that 1st tends to drone on and on and on and on about something so the author gets to feel good about my/your/his/herself. It gets really boring really fast.