As a reader, what POV do you prefer?

I don't have a POV preference for reading, or necessarily for writing. It depends on the story. And yes, my last novel, mid-first draft, I switched from third to first. then corrected the beginning to first in my second draft. The story is significantly improved with the switch. I needed MC to tell it. His voice is what makes the story move.

As a reader, I don't really have a preference. I just want it to draw me in, and if it does that and is written well, I truly don't care what POV it is. You just have to find your strength as a writer and figure out what POV is best for the story you are telling.

I prefer to read and write in 3rd person POV. Just a preference. I wouldn't change POV during a story or at revision. Don't see a reason to.

Just reading Michael Connelly at the moment and I picked up one of his Detective Bosch books that is written in first person. I'm dissapionted. But, because it's Michael Connelly I'll read it - eventually.

JJ

That's a chronic problem for me. I always start out trying to write with the POV of the character, but (based on critiques people have offered) I almost always drift back into my own POV (which is generally not the POV of my character). It's a fault to be overcome, and I work hard at it.

(Um yes, I'm questiong my chosen POV, feel like I'm spinning my wheels)

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I just went through this myself. I started my WIP in third, which is what I normally write in. But I had this nagging feeling the viewpoint was wrong, but I wasn't sure if first was right either. I was on the fence because a lot of the genre I'm writing in is in first. Then I took a viewpoint workshop where I had to write in multiple viewpoints.

I considered first for a while, but after about fifty pages of doing the story in it, I hit a scene where I realized that first was didn't work for what I wanted to do with the scene. Since the scene was a source of the major conflict in the story that causes all the trouble, I started thinking about omni and what it might bring to the scene. That's how I ended up doing a viewpoint I would have never normally touched.

You might try taking a five hundred word scene and writing it in the different viewpoints. Treat it as each one is being written from the ground up, rather than just changing "He" to "I." That'll get you thinking about the viewpoint and what it does. Omni will be the tricky one; a lot of people had trouble with it.

I choose my POV based on the story I write. My normal preference is third-person. I do enjoy first-person, but unless the character is quirky or fairly intelligent, the POV is much too difficult for me to write well.

Third-person serves well in a plot where character reflection and thought are not as important. First-person serves well where the inner thoughts of a character(s) is important or the story is "chattier".

I can't remember a time when I've doubted the POV I've chosen. I don't change it mid-story. I may erase what I've written and start over. It's just a tic I have that I refuse to change POV mid-story. But I normally pick the correct POV. When the story begins, it begins in my head and beams itself to the paper or word-processing page. The POV comes out as it needs to. For example, in my latest short story, "House on the Hill", I heard the narrator speaking and that's how it came out on the page. For "Shellfish Shrimp", Rassen (the MC) wouldn't speak to me at all--probably because he was too busy trying to eat the poisonous lublub nuts--and his story came down in third person.

I'm sorry that you're doubting your POV choice. Maybe you should sit down and pretend you're writing the story in your head? Or maybe you could try writing an excerpt in first person, and then writing the same excerpt in third person? Do that with several excerpts and I bet you'd know which POV worked the best. Of course, you have other things to consider, but. . .

I'm sorry. I'm rambling. Good luck.

As a reader, I like any POV except second. Being told what is happening to me (which is what second person does) drives my buggy. Managed to make it through a couple of books that did that and never again.

Writing-wise, POV is the window through which I view Story, so it comes with the story itself. I don't generally have to think about it.

I write in whichever POV the story demands. Usually third person restricted, but I've written in omni and first too. As for reading, I prefer third and omni (well done) and I'll read first if the character interests me. I really can't stand annoying first person characters. I can't stand second either. Or anything present tense. Wow, I'm kinda picky. . . .

DeleyanLee said:

As a reader, I like any POV except second. Being told what is happening to me (which is what second person does) drives my buggy.

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Yep, me too. I'm all "I did what? No, I didn't! I thought what? Did not!"

Mostly I'm with you But I've read one second-person POV story that I've loved. Gestella by Susan Palwick. Reviewed by Victoria Strauss here.

(Actually I think I read another, by Gregory Frost, but I'm forgetting whether it was 2nd POV or 1st)

My guess is, 2nd is very seldom the right POV choice, but when it's right...there's no other way to tell that story.

I switched my first novel from first to third. I prefer to write in first but most of the time my stories are better told in third...but it doesn't come as easily for me.

As a reader, I don't care what the POV is, as long as it's well-written and draws me into the story.

Forgive me if I don't use the right "lingo" - but I hate the omniscient POV. Peeking into every person's head - or worse, changing POVs briefly in the middle of a novel, like when we've been following Sally for 100 pages and then we hear Jane's thoughts for a paragraph or two - seems to call attention to the writer instead of making me feel immersed in the characters and story. The only time I think this sort of tactic kind of works is when there are clear delineations between each character's headspace - i.e., chapter 1 is Sally, chapter 2 is Jane, chapter 3 is Sally again, chapter 4 is Bob. However, I still find that this approach enlarges the psychic distance between the reader and the characters. Offhand, the only author I can think of that masters this technique is Stephen King, but his writing has the flaw of every character having the same voice. He's saved by the fact that the details of each characters life are so dense you REALLY get to know each one.

Personally, I prefer the first-person or third-person focused (again, not sure on the lingo, but I hope you know what I mean). I like to really get into a character's mind and heart.

Little Earthquake: I also don't like omniscient POV. It just somehow feels cheap - for 200 pages the main character is solving the mystery, and then the answer is suddenly revealed by following the thoughts of some other random guy? C'mon... (I like calling this kind of POV a "giveaway point of view")

On the other hand, if it is logically structured, like if each chapter alternates between one of two characters, through the whole book, and the POV isn't a "giveaway point of view", it is okay.

As a reader I originally preferred 3rd person, but as I found writers whose stories I loved who wrote in 1st or other POVs that preference went by the wayside. Old school, baby.

As a writer, I write in whatever POV suits the work. My current WIP is 1st person past tense and I feel it is going very well.

Dae

I prefer reading 3rd unless the 1st is compelling.

Writing, I usually go with 3rd and move to 1st in 1 out of 5 tales, again, it depends on what I want to convey.

dpaterso said:

When omniscient is done well, with a variety of interesting characters, I hardly notice. When it's not done well it can irritating, reducing enjoyment levels. I'm not confident enough to write in this style.


-Derek

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This is so true! I have read novels with omniscient that were fantastic. I just got done with one that was horrible. And I really think I would have liked the book if it hadn't been for the very jarring switches in character focus.
I am not confident enough in my control of POV (and omni takes more discipline and control than others, I think) to write Omni POV either.

Stew21 said:

This is so true! I have read novels with omniscient that were fantastic. I just got done with one that was horrible. And I really think I would have liked the book if it hadn't been for the very jarring switches in character focus.
I am not confident enough in my control of POV (and omni takes more discipline and control than others, I think) to write Omni POV either.

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One of the things I've noticed about omni is that it tends to work well if the writer makes subtle transitions before switching viewpoint. Sometimes the transition is a subject where it would make sense to dip into the other viewpoint; sometimes I've seen the narrative shift up into camera view for a sentence and then switch to the other viewpoint. Because it's very subtle, it's not that noticable unless you're looking for it. Where I've found a transition more jarring is when it hasn't been subtle. In one book I just read, it started a new paragraph in a new viewpoint and did more than dip into the character's thoughts. In another, it just switched in mid-paragraph.

The tricky part I'm finding it trying to maintain the distance omni requires. That is harder for me than transitioning the viewpoints. Sentences have to be phrased in a different way than third person, so they can take some thought to get right. At the same time, the sentence shouldn't all start with the character's name or be "he was," which are both easy to do. But I'm finding that I do like being able to describe things from an outside narrator perspective.

I used to be unable to write first person, but lately I've gotten into it and I absolutely love it. I'll always have a soft spot for third person, though, which is what I use in my HP fanfictions.
I always write in past tense, too. I've tried writing in present, but it doesn't work. XD

Little Earthquake said:

Forgive me if I don't use the right "lingo" - but I hate the omniscient POV. Peeking into every person's head - or worse, changing POVs briefly in the middle of a novel, like when we've been following Sally for 100 pages and then we hear Jane's thoughts for a paragraph or two - seems to call attention to the writer instead of making me feel immersed in the characters and story. The only time I think this sort of tactic kind of works is when there are clear delineations between each character's headspace - i.e., chapter 1 is Sally, chapter 2 is Jane, chapter 3 is Sally again, chapter 4 is Bob. However, I still find that this approach enlarges the psychic distance between the reader and the characters. Offhand, the only author I can think of that masters this technique is Stephen King, but his writing has the flaw of every character having the same voice. He's saved by the fact that the details of each characters life are so dense you REALLY get to know each one.

Personally, I prefer the first-person or third-person focused (again, not sure on the lingo, but I hope you know what I mean). I like to really get into a character's mind and heart.

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It may be to your advantage to familiarize yourself with the terms. The bolded is not omniscient, it's third person limited with multiple viewpoints. And King is far from the only author to master this technique. Many authors surpass him in this.

Omniscient provides a single narrative voice that by definition knows all, including character thoughts and feelings. It does not necessarily tell all. Watership Down is a great example of omniscient POV done well. Many stories require a wider angle. There is no "worst" or "best" POV - only the POV that best suits a given story.

Third person limited keeps to one POV per scene, written in third person (he/she, him/her). This can be a very close viewpoint, every bit as close as first person, or even closer, in some cases. The advantage is that it allows the author to share information that the viewpoint character might not naturally say or write in first person. For example, if the character is an extremely private person, or deeply ashamed of certain things he's done, it may undercut the story's credibility to have him sharing his innermost thought in an I/me narrative. Who's he baring his soul to, and why?

First Person is narrated by I/me and is also a close viewpoint. Even in first person, the author is not limited to one viewpoint. As with third person, the POV can change at chapter breaks. The example I always give of this is Matthew Kneale's English Passengers, which used 11 distinct first-person narratives to great effect. Another good example is Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, which if I remember correctly, used four distinct first-person narratives.

I write first person but no preference on how a book is narrated, as long as the story is well told.

Overwhelmingly 3rd. I see 1st done well so rarely that it has soured me to the whole style.

Don't even talk to me about 2nd. It makes my head hurt. It cracks my skull open, scoops out my brain, drops it into a blender with some salt and lime, and then pours that tasty brain-arita back in my head for a festive presentation, complete with little umbrella.

A green one.

Linda Adams said:

One of the things I've noticed about omni is that it tends to work well if the writer makes subtle transitions before switching viewpoint...
The tricky part I'm finding it trying to maintain the distance omni requires. That is harder for me than transitioning the viewpoints. ...

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You don't really switch viewpoints in omniscient. The viewpoint remains that of the (omniscient) narrator. Otherwise, if the actual viewpoint changes during mid-paragraph/scene, it's called 3rd limited with head-hopping.

Anyway, I've read really good omniscient (Atonement comes to mind--you don't actually notice it's omniscient at first since McEwan's narrator is very focused), but most often I don't like omniscient. I prefer 3rd limited or 1st person.

Overwhelmingly 3rd. I see 1st done well so rarely that it has soured me to the whole style.

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Interesting. I've read so many great 1st person it's easily my favorite POV. Good 1st person keeps me close to the action and character, and creates suspense and interesting perspectives. Not to mention an unreliable narrator (such as the one in Fight Club) really throws me for a loop.