1st / 3rd person perspective?

[Diance]

I see both, but a lot of first person. I tend to that because 3d person is more difficult.

Is there one that is preferred? Or is it just the same preference, 1st person, 3rd person are equal?

2nd person stories are just insanely difficult. I might try it sometime.

- Diance

 

[BarracudaSwordfish]

I have used both, but about 70-30 in favour of 1st person.

Where I use 1st, I quite often alternate sections between different voices. I find it nice to get into the heads of the protagonists and contrast their emotions, often describing the same action from two viewpoints.

Totals thus far - 45 stories, 21 x 1st person, 13 x 1st person/Multi, 11 x 3rd person. I have been posting for four years and looking back, haven't used 3rd in the last two years.

It's all about personal taste/choice in the end. I just find "I looked into his eyes as he flooded into my mouth" more personal than "She looked into his eyes..."

The ecstasy/disgust/disappointment comes from the heart of the participant, not words in a narrator's voice and that to me is a much more satisfying read.

 

[SimonDoom]

My default and most frequently used POV is third person limited. For me, third person limited achieves just about everything that first person can achieve, but it offers more flexibility than first person because I can use a narrative voice that doesn't have to be limited by the knowledge or character of the protagonist. The advantage of limited over omniscient is that it gets the reader closer to one main character and that character's thoughts and feelings.

Sometimes I use third person omniscient, when I really want to tell the story from more than one point of view. Some of my early stories involve something close to "head hopping," where I move from one POV to another within a scene. I don't do that anymore. Now I switch from one POV to the other only after a scene break.

I use first person when I feel like I don't need the advantages of third person and I want to tell the story in the voice of the main character. First person is the best POV for surprise, since the narrator doesn't know what's around the corner.

I don't use second person POV because it's too difficult to do well and it seems contrived to me. It's generally not fun to read. I think I've read one story on Literotica in this POV that I enjoyed.

The other thing I don't do is switch back and forth among different first person POVs. I don't see any advantage to doing that over using third person omniscient. I generally do not care for those stories.

 

[KeithD]

Is there one that is preferred?

Individual writers/readers often have a preference. But overall? No.

 

[Diance]

I have used both, but about 70-30 in favour of 1st person.

Where I use 1st, I quite often alternate sections between different voices. I find it nice to get into the heads of the protagonists and contrast their emotions, often describing the same action from two viewpoints.

Totals thus far - 45 stories, 21 x 1st person, 13 x 1st person/Multi, 11 x 3rd person. I have been posting for four years and looking back, haven't used 3rd in the last two years.

It's all about personal taste/choice in the end. I just find "I looked into his eyes as he flooded into my mouth" more personal than "She looked into his eyes..."

The ecstasy/disgust/disappointment comes from the heart of the participant, not words in a narrator's voice and that to me is a much more satisfying read.

That makes a lot of sense! I am very new to trying to write, so I am happy to have advice. I'll stick to 1st person for the next few attempts then try to fashion something in 3rd person!

I'll look at your stories to see how it's done, and to enjoy reading them.

 

[AvroAnson]

My first few stories were written in 'first person', when I had a few moments and was alone. I tried writing one in the 'second person'. But accuracy is important to me. Because of the subject matter, I always enjoy beta-testing story themes. So we just wound up having sex instead of writing. I then wrote a story about my 'second person' experience in 'first person'.

I tried again, but the same thing always seemed to happen whenever we got together -- 'second person' sex rather than writing in the 'second person' -- so more "first person stories were written about all the 'second person' sex. "Cowboy, you can do anything you want for as long as you want, so long as we stop for a water break every hour or so." (Because proper hydration is very important.)

I tried writing in 'third person' as well, but it always evolved into my having sex with one of the two other people. You have to blame -- or credit -- my mother for the fact that this did not result in a single 'second person' account of a story. See, she always taught me to share, that it was "very rude to enjoy a treat while others around (me) had none."

So, of course we all had sex together. Which I later wrote about in the 'first person'. I so wanted to write: "He slowly and sweetly buggered her as she ate his wife" in a story that I invited four people over. But sadly that plan didn't work out either. You can read about it over in the 'Group Sex' category. But it's written in 'first person' too.

 

[Diance]

Individual writers/readers often have a preference. But overall? No.

I so far prefer 1st person writing, but I'm still learning. Thank you for reply. I'll eventually try switching and attempt to write a 3rd person story.

I just hope people realize a fictional 1st person is not a self confession.

I certainly will not switch tone in the middle of the same vignette, unless there's a really good reason.

 

[SimonDoom]

I so far prefer 1st person writing, but I'm still learning. Thank you for reply. I'll eventually try switching and attempt to write a 3rd person story.

I just hope people realize a fictional 1st person is not a self confession.

I certainly will not switch tone in the middle of the same vignette, unless there's a really good reason.

There is no one right way to do it. If you write in first person, there will be many readers receptive to that POV. Many readers feel that first person is more intimate and therefore better for erotica. I'm not one of them.

The one rule, if you can call anything here a rule: Don't shift from first to third and back. It's sloppy and confusing and it makes your story look careless. I'm constantly surprised how many authors do this, seemingly without being aware of it.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

My stories tend to lean heavily toward the third-person perspective, with considerable dialog between the characters. It's the perspective that most of the authors I admire most typically use, and it seems to work best for longer tales.

I think I have around a half dozen stories written in first-person, primarily my stories related to celebrities since that perspective seems to match the spirit of the genre the best. You know, a story being related by one of the participants rather than a third party.

I agree with Simon, pick one and stick with it at all costs throughout the story.

Some like to use first-person and switch between characters to share their varying perspectives, and add more voices to the tale. This approach is fine as long as each first-person is clearly distinguishable from others. This requires more than a header with their name. It requires different and distinct characteristics to be evident with each person. (The wife should have clear characteristics different than the husband, as people in real life do.)

 

[MColton84]

I see both, but a lot of first person. I tend to that because 3d person is more difficult.

Is there one that is preferred? Or is it just the same preference, 1st person, 3rd person are equal?

2nd person stories are just insanely difficult. I might try it sometime.

- Diance

For me it all depends on the story I am trying to tell. Different perspectives and tenses offer different strengths. I personally prefer to tell my story in the first person perspective with the past tense. Although I have done third person with past and present tense. My previous story, as well as the one I am working on now are in 1st/present. As everyone else has already stated, the perspectives and tense are a matter of preference, so write how you feel comfortable writing. I will also agree that second person is a nightmare to execute, and something that I have yet to get down.

Best of luck to you and your work.

 

[AvroAnson]

I will also agree that second person is a nightmare to execute ...

I have seen it used effectively here with a couple EX-V stories.

 

[PennameWombat]

I see both, but a lot of first person. I tend to that because 3d person is more difficult.

Is there one that is preferred? Or is it just the same preference, 1st person, 3rd person are equal?

2nd person stories are just insanely difficult. I might try it sometime.

- Diance

My natural inclination is 3rd-person limited, about 2/3 of my stories use it, the rest 1st person. I don’t find it more difficult so long as you keep in mind whose POV you’re in at any time. I tend to write longer stories so often alternate amongst multiple (2-3) characters as the POV in different sections.

With 1st-person my narrator has to be on scene 100% of the time. I find that limiting for much of what I write so my 1st-person stories are where I want deep focus solely on that character. If I want multiple POVs that’s 3rd-person for me. I don’t assume any 1st-person story is a confessional and don’t use it that way but can’t speak for everyone else here.

I’m not recalling any of my stories that aren’t simple past tense, regardless of POV.

I’ve sketched out a couple of 2nd-person stories but wisely avoided posting them

 

[SimonDoom]

I have seen it used effectively here with a couple EX-V stories.

Are you sure you are thinking of true 2d person POV stories or 1st person POV where the narrator addresses another person as "you"? They're different. People get this mixed up a lot. There are many stories of the second kind but very few of the first.

Second person is: You walked to the store to get your dog some food. Inside the store you bought biscuits.

First person is: I saw you walk to the store to get your dog some food. I went into the store with you and I saw you buy some biscuits.

 

[LexxRuthless]

Are you sure you are thinking of true 2d person POV stories or 1st person POV where the narrator addresses another person as "you"? They're different. People get this mixed up a lot. There are many stories of the first kind but very few of the second.

Second person is: You walked to the store to get your dog some food. Inside the store you bought biscuits.

First person is: I saw you walk to the store to get your dog some food. I went into the store with you and I saw you buy some biscuits.

You can use second person occasionally in a first-person narrative, to have the narrator break the "fourth wall" by addressing the reader directly. It's tricky to pull it off, as you said earlier, but it's really cool if you can make it work. First person has the advantage of making the experience feel more immersive than third person, but if the reader feels like the narrator is actually talking to them, it becomes even more immersive.

 

[AvroAnson]

Are you sure you are thinking of true 2d person POV stories or 1st person POV where the narrator addresses another person as "you"? They're different. People get this mixed up a lot. There are many stories of the first kind but very few of the second.

Agreed, (EDIT: with what I assume SimonDoom meant, that there are very few true 'second person' postings -- thanks Bramblethorn) I only recall one author who frequently did this. Her style was like that of a love letter:

"You have this easy spirit, Janis Joplin, unkempt hippy girl look as you walk from your room wearing nothing but a light summer dress that was chosen for its translucence and generous openings. Thoughts of how you will soon entice everyone present are running through your mind, making you moist. You walk barefoot past the "shoes required" sign in the lobby and take a bowl from the buffet. Standing close to the businessman wearing the suit, you position yourself so he can clearly see the entire side of your right breast as you work the cereal dispenser."

 

[Bramblethorn]

Are you sure you are thinking of true 2d person POV stories or 1st person POV where the narrator addresses another person as "you"? They're different. People get this mixed up a lot. There are many stories of the first kind but very few of the second.

(Did you mean that the other way around?)

The distinction is meaningful in theory but sometimes hard to apply in practice. How do you distinguish between true second-person and a first-speaking-to-second narration where the first person hasn't talked about themself yet?

Recently I read a book that used that ambiguity to devastating effect. It maintained a second-person POV narrative for hundreds of pages. That was jarring but it made sense in context: the protagonist was traumatised and depressed, and second-person worked for conveying her dissociation.

Then three hundred pages into the book, it lets slip: "You never could have guessed that he had seen me." And suddenly the interpretation of everything pivots, with the revelation that there is a first person observing.

After that, strictly speaking, that second-person narrative retroactively becomes first-person. But being read as apparently second-person gave it a very different effect to if it'd been clearly first-person from the beginning.

 

[HeyAll]

For erotica, I mostly like 3rd person of female pov.

For crime/drama/thriller books, I mostly like 3rd person.

 

[Andi_Chase]

Honestly, it depends on the character I'm writing. I don't know what it is, but man, my current protagonist demands to be written in third person. The others I can go either way, but Jarred has firmly rooted himself into a third person perspective.

As far as reading, I can go either way.

 

[KeithD]

Either, although I'm more inside the story with 1st person. I somehow just start with what I think that story needs. Sometimes I'm into it and find I'm writing in the other POV (I only use 1st and 3rd), and then I have to go back and change to what I naturally dropped into.

 

[SimonDoom]

(Did you mean that the other way around?)

The distinction is meaningful in theory but sometimes hard to apply in practice. How do you distinguish between true second-person and a first-speaking-to-second narration where the first person hasn't talked about themself yet?

Recently I read a book that used that ambiguity to devastating effect. It maintained a second-person POV narrative for hundreds of pages. That was jarring but it made sense in context: the protagonist was traumatised and depressed, and second-person worked for conveying her dissociation.

Then three hundred pages into the book, it lets slip: "You never could have guessed that he had seen me." And suddenly the interpretation of everything pivots, with the revelation that there is a first person observing.

After that, strictly speaking, that second-person narrative retroactively becomes first-person. But being read as apparently second-person gave it a very different effect to if it'd been clearly first-person from the beginning.

I did and I've changed it.

As far as distinguishing, I first remind myself that it's just a matter of putting a label on it, and labels don't change the nature of what's being labeled.

In practice you're right, that sometimes "I to you" stories don't feature a lot of "I", so they look an awful lot like second person. Most that I've seen at Literotica feature enough "I" that it's clear that they're first person despite the "you."

 

[KeithD]

Most that I've seen at Literotica feature enough "I" that it's clear that they're first person despite the "you."

I've found that most of the claimed 2nd person stories identified as such in Feedback board posts revealed themselves as 1st person within the first two words.

I've seen some effective internal switches of POV in stories in my view, and I think I've done that a time or two myself. The story is tooling along in 3rd person, and suddenly there's a 1st person section marking a peak in the protagonist's dilemma and thus whipping up the pace and/or tension.

 

[SimonDoom]

I've found that most of the claimed 2nd person stories identified as such in Feeback board posts revealed themselves as 1st person within the first two words.

I've seen some effective internal switches of POV in stories in my view, and I think I've done that a time or two myself. The story is tooling along in 3rd person, and suddenly there's a 1st person section marking a peak in the protagonist's dilemma and thus whipping up the pace and/or tension.

My take on this is if you are fully aware of what you are doing and you have an artistic purpose in mind when you do it, go for it. Be adventurous. That includes experimenting with POV. But try to grow as an artist so you are mindful of what you're doing when you do it.

As a long-time reader, my experience is that 98% of issues arise because the authors aren't fully conscious of what they are doing. They're careless. That's why these threads are useful -- to make authors more conscious of what they're doing rather than dictating one way of doing it.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Looking at it, I find to my surprise that I've written about 2:1 first person vs third person. (Never had the guts or the talent to try second person.) If one ignores a long series of short strokers I wrote, that would be reversed, maybe 1:2 or so.

There's no formula or rule; it's whatever best serves my vision for the story in question.

I do commonly insert an individual's thoughts into a third-person story, generally using italics instead of quotation marks:

Mary stepped more rapidly down the sidewalk. The handsome man in the top hat seemed to be speeding up to keep pace.

Is he following me? she wondered.

The man stopped, took off his hat and entered a bar and she began to breathe easier.

 

[Diance]

Writing a 2nd POV story should be a story challenge. It's really difficult.

 

[KeithD]

Looking at it, I find to my surprise that I've written about 2:1 first person vs third person. (Never had the guts or the talent to try second person.) If one ignores a long series of short strokers I wrote, that would be reversed, maybe 1:2 or so.

There's no formula or rule; it's whatever best serves my vision for the story in question.

I do commonly insert an individual's thoughts into a third-person story, generally using italics instead of quotation marks:

That would be third person omniscient. There was an effort in creative writing programs in the United States to stamp that out as being too lazy, but I don't think it has succeeded.