Young Writers Society

I prefer no person. Stories about cats are better. I often write in 1st Cat P.O.V., but sometimes shift to third.

When writing I like to go for first person. Lets me get inside a characters head.

I find I prefer to write in third person. I can see why first person may be better, but if I write in anything other than third person present tense, I have to be careful or I find myself slipping back into that. :/

I like reading both, but I don't write first person very often. Which is why my historical fiction diary is almost weird to me:)

I prefer 1st person, although some stories call for 3rd X3

What I really hate is when I accidentally switch back and forth between the two in the middle of a page ;n;

"I looked down over the edge, the shadows concealing my face as my eyes followed the dark figure drifting through the alley. He's searching for something. She fingered her necklace as her dread started to build. I know just what he's looking for."

(And tenses ;n; I suck at those too ;n;')

I'd rather write in 1st person, BUT SCREENWRITING

*cough* second person? I only write stories in second person (if you don't believe me check out my portfolio...

I really don't have a preference when it comes to 1st or 3rd person, and I reckon both can be effective. Reading-wise, I don't have a preference, because I've become really connected to characters in stories that have been written in third and indifferent to first, and vice versa, which I guess shows that I don't connect to one over the other.
Interestingly, when I write I usually go for first person as an instinctive thing, but I reckon I write better in third.

Demeter wrote:If you had to choose between first and third person only, which would you prefer? Do you only ever use one of them or do you sometimes change it?

It depends on the effect I want to create with the story. If I want my audience to see things that the character doesn't, then third person is the clear winner. For instance, if I want my audience to see the way that she is looking at him when his back is turned...

But if I want my audience to only know what the character knows, then I'll run first person. This is particularly well suited for when the character is confronting a mystery.

In short, I pick the mode which is best at conveying what I want the audience to see, and hiding the secrets that I want hidden.

Imagine how much we would be missing, for instance, if any Harry Potter book, which is in third person, had been written in first person instead; and what would The Catcher in the Rye be without Holden Caulfield's first person narration?

In first person, your story becomes the narration of a single individual - the narrator (of course, you can switch between characters). This can produce an awesome effect, but in stories that encompass a lot of characters, places and events, I think that writing in third person does an even better job.