What do you prefer?

[lucifurl]

More of a brain picking than a poll, but what narrative style do you prefer books to be written in?

I am working on a little something myself and I was wondering what your guys' opinions were.

[Skytteflickan88]

I picked first person, but that completely depends on how you write that person's thoughts and what kind of story it is.

But lately I've been prefering first person.

-EDIT

A epic story, like Lord of the rings, would generally benefit from third person, while books about more ordinary lives/adventures could work better with first person (because the emotion that first person offers could add to the book in a great way).

[elenasaur]

I think I prefer first person, though I can't say I usually notice.
But I think that you just feel more connected with the characters that way. Of course, if the author is no good at writing a character's thoughts, perhaps they should stick to third person. Or if the story follows a lot of different people, because when it switches narrators, it gets a bit confusing.

[lucifurl]

Thanks for the comments
I was just wondering as I am finding it pretty hard to write in first person sometimes but other times I couldn't write it any other way.

[buffyfan21]

Either/or. As long as the plot is good that's all that really matters to me.

[slayerthorn]

I prefer third person most of the time, but it really depends on the plot

[Emmie]

This poll makes me feel bad for the second-person narratives. They never get the love!

I find that the different POV narratives are useful for different things.

"I" helps to connote intimacy and closer readings into characters' thoughts and feelings. This intimacy is also I think affecting for the author when writing with "I". But this is by necessity limited because it must always follow the one character who is guiding the POV. This can be effectively used though for writing mysteries and surprising the audience. Because of the very limited POV, there's always something happening just around the corner. But first-person narratives sometimes lend themselves towards being too self-indulgent for the author - Twilight is an example of this - where some readers feel like they're reading Stephanie Meier's fantasy. It's a bit too naked for some and disturbing in the wrong way, versus gripping emotionally for others.

"You" is interesting in that it sometimes feels like an argument made to the audience, a proposition to be accepted. The author is telling the reader "you feel this" and so they over the course of the narrative go from being an "I" that is reading to the "you" that is experiencing the story.

Third-Person narrative is the most commonly used and it's the most flexible, imo. Though Third-person omniscient is hard to do well because it gets confusing jumping in and out of characters' minds and action and dialogue. So when done well, it can be the most freeing for the author in terms of possible avenues to choose to express the story.

[Rebecca]

I like third-person because it allows the authors to write about a lot of characters, but keep confusion at a min by using lots of specific pronouns (names).

I, I, I all the time, switching between characters, can be confusing. But if you write in first person, how can you write what a character is thinking for all of your main characters?

[The Night Lord]

I'm more of a third person type, but I don't mind first-person either

[lucifurl]

Thanks, great comments. I think I'm probably going to stick to one main character in first person and try not to get self indulgent.

[Scarygothgirl]

Can get better descriptions in third person, but I find first person is easier to get into as you just become the character as you're reading and let the words flow as your thoughts.

[AngelFaith]

I've always preferred first person because it allows you to get closer to the main character than if you were reading third person.

That said I do love third person as well, because it allows you to see into more than just one character's thoughts and feelings.

[Josh]

While I love first person and it is interesting to read, I always feel like I'm not getting the full story since it's being told from one person and thus is a biased view of the events that occurred.

[VampSlayer]

It really depends. As Sky said above, different novels benefit from certain styles.

IMO, if first person is written well enough it's the best. But third person is usually always enjoyable. Once more, IMO.