Who's eyes are you looking through?

[Lovepotion69]

Do you write mainly in third person or first person?

When you write in first person, do you prefer to write from a female or male pov?

Curious.

 

[Guest]

I write mainly in first person, always female; only began using third in the Snipps stories.

Perdita

 

[ffreak]

Depends on whether or not I want the reader to hear the point of view character's thoughts.

My Princess Daisy stories are all 1st person because it is from the point of view of the main character and what his reactions are to the events happening around and to him.

However I am doing a story where the point of view changes because the protagonist (a man) spends much of the time listening to the story being related by his passenger (a young woman) - who while telling the story becomes the point-of-view character. So the story is in 3rd because I don't think the reader would comfortably follow a switch easily and I don't think it's fair to hear what's going on in one person's head and not the other's (and I don't think I can believably be inside the head of the young woman expressing female pov thoughts).

 

[janus40s]

All of the above...

I prefer to exercise my writing skills by writing from male or female perspective in about a 50/50 ratio overall.

If I have written in one gender most recently, I try to switch to the other. Depending on the mood I'm in, I sometimes find myself drifting in one direction or the other.

My goal is to keep the reader wondering if I am really a man or a woman. Hence the handle "janus40s".

I prefer first rather than third person so that tends to be about 70/30.

 

[janus40s]

...(and I don't think I can believably be inside the head of the young woman expressing female pov thoughts).

Have you ever tried? You might be surprised...

 

[raphy]

Depends on the effect I want to create - For a more 'personal' feel, to put the reader right in the driving seat, as it were, I use first person.. Also I find that first person adds an extra level of credulity or realism to the times when you get inside your protagonist's head..

I still remember our first words, though not who spoke them or in what order. I remember, later, watching you run your fingers over his face, tracing the scar left behind by the Venezualan sniper's bullet, long ago and far away, in Brisbane, just before I killed him.

I found that worked so much better in first person than in third person (which is how I wrote that story originally)

Of course, when you're writing in first person, it means you really can't change the PoV of the reader very easily. Spider Robinson's _Mindkiller_ does it, and does it well, but he actually has a plot-related reason for writing half the book in first, and half in third.

So I find myself using third person if I'm writing a story where the PoV needs to change at regular intervals.

 

[Just_John1]

Good question

I used to write only in first person but for the last year or so I've written mainly in third person. I think its easier to tell a story in third person and I find it easier to show more than one POV in third person, of course.

I kind of miss the intimacy of writing in first person though. I think it gives the author more of a chance to show his/her personality.

JJ1

 

[ffreak]

What if I'm having trouble guessing who I am.

I know why I am here.

I'm like Charles Bremer - seeing beauty as erotic - whether it is the varying AV's used by the ladies here, or their words in a story, or the flirtatious whips displayed in their posts.

I love seeing the works of writers who keep coming back and submitting more stories and more banter. I can see their growth in the use of language as a medium to paint their pictures more clearly and more artistically. (and I still find it hard to read 2nd person, the writer trying to force me into participation unwillingly)

-FF - always me sometimes him but never you

 

[ffreak]

Originally posted by: janus40s
Have you ever tried? You might be surprised...

Yeah, I have tried with about the same results as a woman trying to write a Sam Spade character. They miss, simply because of the sub-text being all wrong for a guy. I do the same thing, I'm not a woman and every woman who read my attempts spotted the mistakes as laughable immediately (some were published writers in other genres).

I do think some guys can do it. I just seem to get way over my head in about 2 inches of water when I try.

I also can't do 2nd person believeably. Of course I find most attempts at 2nd person to be unbelieveable. It doesn't keep me reading the story.

 

[Jenny _S]

Depends on the story. I usually write either in the first or third person. Male or Female depending again on the story.

 

[SlickTony]

I have written in 1st person and in 3rd. If I'm writing from a female POV I tend to write in 1st person. I've written one story from a male POV and am working on another, but prefer to write in 3rd person for those.

 

[Sabledrake]

Like Jenny said, it depends on the story. Some just seem to demand to be first person, while others don't.

Sabledrake

 

[champagne1982]

1st, 2nd or 3rd?

If it's a narrative about the main character's experience, definately first person. It's limiting though, because you can't tell who's around the corner until your character sees them.

If it's a letter, what other than second person would make it read properly?

If it's a story where the scene and all of the characters share the same weight in plot development then third person has to be the route.

I guess it depends on the tale.

My point-of-view decisions are made in a similar manner, although I tend to drift sometimes; to keep me on track I absolutely need a good editor. I prefer writing in 3rd person, female POV.

 

[ffreak]

There, you hit the head on the nail.

A letter is probably the only case I can think of where 2nd person sounds right. Because the author is writing to the person addressed in the letter. The reader may be the person the letter was supposed to be read by, or it may be someone else. But the writer did not know anyone else would read it when they were writing.

But the vast majority of stories I read that were attempted in 2nd person never read like a letter. They read like the action is taking place in the present tense with the writer there at that time.

For this to work, the letter would have to be written in the past or future tense - what has happed, or what is desired to happen. A letter could be a part of a story written in 1st or 3rd person, the letter as it is read, would be in 2nd, unless the reader (in the story) was paraphrasing the letter, as in translating it from another language, or simply summarizing - in which case I think the references would be in 3rd person.

whew - do I have that right?

 

[jfinn]

All of them. I even have one I wrote for Lit as a third person pov focusing on the woman's side in a straight relationship and then turned around and rewrote it for another site in first person from a male pov in a gay relationship.

Jayne

 

[sailorm72003]

I've written both first person, and third. I don't care for 2nd, it never seems to flow properly.

I'm attempting a first person from a female pov, for the first time, and it's not easy for me but I wanted the challenge.

Sailor

 

[janus40s]

Yeah, I have tried with about the same results as a woman trying to write a Sam Spade character. They miss, simply because of the sub-text being all wrong for a guy. I do the same thing, I'm not a woman and every woman who read my attempts spotted the mistakes as laughable immediately (some were published writers in other genres).

And that gives you a chance to learn more about the female mind. Making laughable mistakes, and having someone explain why they are laughable, can give a lot of insight. Having your writing laughed at is a painful way of gaining insight, but it can be quite effective.

My point: The subtext needs to be there when you are writing *about* women, even from a male perspective. That's what gives female characters more texture and believability.

I do think some guys can do it. I just seem to get way over my head in about 2 inches of water when I try.

Yes. Make sure you have a really cute female lifeguard ready to fish you out of the pool.

I also can't do 2nd person believeably. Of course I find most attempts at 2nd person to be unbelieveable. It doesn't keep me reading the story.

Absolutely.

 

[The_Fool]

Umm...*scratches head* Yes...

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Do you write mainly in third person or first person?

When you write in first person, do you prefer to write from a female or male pov?

Curious.

Mainly third person-some first person.

Either sex. It depends on the story.

RF

 

[AmericanWench]

I prefer to write in first person. I feel it is more challenging, for me anyway. I also have only written in the female pos. so far

 

[Chicklet]

Do you write mainly in third person or first person?

When you write in first person, do you prefer to write from a female or male pov?

Curious.

I usually write in first person, it's easier for me.

Male vs female? It doesn't matter, I've done both, apparently convincingly. I don't mind either, I think I can get into either head pretty well.

Maybe I prefer male cause it's more fun to pretend to be someone I'm definitely not.

Chicklet

 

[Icingsugar]

Any and all. I try as much as I can to vary perspective. But I can see a trend in my storytelling, which eyes are the easiest to look through.

When the focus character (the one you can hear think) is a man, it tends to be 'me'. When it's a woman it tends to be 'she'. I guess it is a way for me to be lazy. Writing in first person is about role-playing. Getting 'into character' as a female takes a bit more effort. To get into the character as a listener and have a fictional character telling me what she thinks or feels is much easier.

Do I make sense? It's monday morning for crying out loud.

 

[ffreak]

Originally posted by: Janus40s:
Make sure you have a really cute female lifeguard ready to fish you out of the pool.

That would be nice, hopefully, once I was flipped over, maybe a little tasty lip-to-lip resuscitation would help me revive.

 

[Guest]

Whos' Eyes

 

[destinie21]

I write in first person from the first person. Generally as a woman because I have no idea what men think. I don't think I could fake the funk on that one.