Best Point of View

[evilernie]

Hi Guys,

In your opinion, what is the point of view where the reader will be most receptive to - first, second or third person.

This is a challenge to anybody.

Will somebody try an experiment where he/she writes a story in all three person, post it at the same time and let us know what got the most or highest votes.

I apologize for not volunteering. I write lousy stories and won't get the desired effect.

 

[Weird Harold]

In your opinion, what is the point of view where the reader will be most receptive to - first, second or third person.

Whichever best suits the needs of the story. There is no one POV that is best for all situations, although second person definitely has the fewest applications in writing for the general public.

Will somebody try an experiment where he/she writes a story in all three person, post it at the same time and let us know what got the most or highest votes.

This would prove nothing except which POV is best for that particular story.

FWIW, there are several long threads in this forum that explore the uses of the various POVs in detail -- one is "malignant first personism" by Dr Mabeuse.

 

[Pookie]

Here is a good summary:

Poison Pen's Guide for Amateur Writers of Erotica
by Andrew Nellis, aka the Poison Pen © 1997

Perspective
The first thing you'll have to decide when writing a story is which perspective the story will be told from. For the beginner it is best to avoid the potentially risky literary trick of switching perspectives part-way through the story. The three major perspectives from which a story can be told are listed below.

Perspective [first person]:
In a story which uses the first person perspective, a narrator describes the action for us in his or her own voice. This can be a very effective technique when used well, but often reads like "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" if it is done badly.

Remember first that the narrator cannot describe what he or she did not witness or is not aware of. This is one of the weaknesses of the first person perspective. For this reason, it is recommended that beginners avoid the first person and stick to third person. If you are going to use first person, one tool which can be useful for avoiding this problem is telling the story in the first person from the perspective of more than one character, switching between characters as required.

In particular, avoid falling into the trap of beginning every sentence or paragraph with "Then I did this." If your story is nothing more than a laundry list of the narrator's actions, it would be much better to use third person.

Perspective [second person]:
In a story which uses the second person perspective, the story tells the reader what he or she did or is doing. "You did this, and then you did that," would be an example of second person perspective. It is with good reason that this is not an often-used perspective, since it requires considerable skill to keep it from sounding clunky and awkward. It is highly recommended that the beginner avoid using this perspective altogether.

There is a definite role for the second person perspective in erotic writing, however. Since the purpose of erotic writing is to sexually engage the reader, and since the easiest way to do this is to draw the reader into the role of participant within the story, second person enjoys a usefulness in the genre that it does not in most others. Be wary of overusing this tool, since its effectiveness diminishes with use.

Perspective [third person]:
Third person is the most common perspective used in stories, and is the easiest for a novice to master.

The most usual variation of the third person is known as "third person omniscient." With this perspective, the author writes from the effective perspective of God, able to look into each character's head and read his or her thoughts, moving from place to place and character to character with infinite speed. One weakness of this variation is that it removes the ability of the author to lie to the reader. Since the perspective is omniscient, all the statements made in the "voice of God" must be absolutely true. It is difficult, though not impossible, to maintain secrecy from the reader; this must be done by omission, and it must be done cleverly or the reader will become suspicious and any surprise or tension will be lost.

A second variation is the "third person semi-omniscient." In this case, while the author writes from the effective perspective of God, it is with limitations. For example, the thoughts and motives of the characters may not be available by the author. This perspective can be useful when trying to maintain some mystery in a story, since it allows characters to hide things from the readers without drawing attention to it.

The other major variation of third person involves a fallible, non- omniscient perspective. Using this voice, the author can actually state deliberate lies to actively fool the reader. For example, to keep the gender of a character a mystery, the author may refer to a "him" as a "her" and vice versa, until this subterfuge becomes known by the characters in the story. This can be a difficult perspective to use, and it is recommended that the novice avoid it.


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Tense
One of the most common mistakes of amateur writers is confusion of tenses. Make absolutely certain that you use the same tense all the way through. If your story is told in past tense, it should remain in the past tense. An experienced author may be able to get away with breaking this "rule" as a stylistic flair or literary tool, but this requires a great deal of expertise and should be avoided by anyone who lacks extensive experience.

Past Tense:
For the beginner, past tense is the best option. It is easiest to master, and is familiar to all readers. Having already happened, it allows the author to shift backward and forward in time as required to tell the story.

Present Tense:
Present tense can be an extremely effective tool when used right, since it drops the reader right into the action, and gives the story a sense of immediacy, particularly when combined with first or second person. This is a difficult ploy to use, however, as it requires a great deal of skill to maintain proper pacing and flow. It should absolutely be avoided by the novice. This is NOT a tool for the beginner to use, and in the wrong hands can make a story painfully unreadable.

Other Tenses:
While I have never seen a story written in the future tense, it is at least theoretically possible. Such a story would require incredible skill to write properly, and would always be awkward for the reader. Do not use the future tense.

 

[TheEarl]

I currently have a story on the backburner which is written from 2 1st person perspectives and a 3rd person. The POV rotates and you get a different view of what's happening as the POv changes.

However it's in my unfinished folder, so I doubt if I'll ever finish it .

The earl

 

[evilernie]

thanks everybody!

I will probably just rotate the perspective of my stories, as well.

good luck to all