What is your favorite POV for fiction?

[Weapon77]

What do you like or dislike about each one?

1st Person

2nd Person

3rd Person

[WindAtMyBack]

I prefer first person, with a little third person thrown in. I read a lot of fiction and that combination seems to be the most common.

First person allows for the character to be ignorant of events outside his view, unless he finds out by being told, reading, or whatever. So the character is not omniscient. It gives the author more control over what the reader knows and doesn't know until the author decides to reveal it.

First person also helps with character development. It helps the reader get to know the character better.

[Weapon77]

Makes sense! How do you feel about 1st person using a lot of "I _____ed" statements like "I realized the sound was comong from behind me," "I heard a cow," and "I felt someone brush past me"?

[WindAtMyBack]

That would be a little weird. Usually you "hear" what is going on inside their head.

Dialog is almost always "he said, she said".

I guess I'm not really thinking of first person right. I'm thinking in terms of the story being told from the perspective of the character. The reader knows only what the character knows. The writing may be third person, but the viewpoint is from the character. I looked it up and this might be what they call third person limited.

The above allows for good character development and unfolding of the story. But it can also get in the way. Something I find annoying is when characters suddenly get stupid for the convenience of the author. The reader might know more than the character, but sometimes the character just gets stupid, even considering their limited knowledge. I think "Nah, there is no way the character would do that."

I think it's poor writing when characters constantly switch between genius and dumb-as-a-rock. The excuse is that the character didn't know something. But it's really a cheap tool of the author.

Descriptions of surroundings are more likely to be omniscient, but it's still common for surroundings to be described from the character point of view. It depends on what the author wants to reveal.

[Weapon77]

Agreed! Yes, it sounds like you mean 3rd person limited, which is my favorite for most stories.

Have you read The Tell Tale Heart? That's a great example of 1st person. And "I_____ed" statements are used a lot. I'm just wondering because a story of mine was criticized for too many such phrases, and I'm curious about how most people think about what is too much/little.

[WindAtMyBack]

I only read a very small part of The Telltale Heart. Poe did tend to write in first person.

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary."

He explores what goes on inside someone's head in the first person. Even some of his dialog is first person.

""And what, after all, is the matter on hand?" I asked."
...
""Proceed," said I."

[Weapon77]

Right, so it makes me wonder if using "I" statements is really all that bad. Perhaps it matters more how it's used

[Whatthefluff]

There are more important things than POV for a piece of fiction. But I think it’s easier to feel “involved” in first person

[strateguy632]

he, not hunger game