POV preferences

[LadyMarauder]

What is everyone’s favourite POV to write in?

I have a realllly old fic, one of the first I ever wrote and the POV switched up a bit throughout. It was mainly Albus Potter and the OC which I think worked fine, but occassionally there would be snippets from other characters too. It was almost a little like a tv show where you’d see things from others’ perspective now and again. If that makes sense?

I’m thinking of resurrecting the fic in some kind of way, because there were bits I really liked (there was a lot that was complete cack too though!), but I don’t know whether it’d be confusing with the POV thing.

No idea if I’ll end up bringing it back in a novel form or in any way at all, just thought I’d see what everyone else likes to read!

[down-in-flames]

i'm all over the place with pov.  a lot of my early writing was in first person, and so the entire complicated/complex story is told from first person pov, and through the same person's eyes the entire time (with the exception of some spin-off fics). for unknown reasons, i switched to third person when i started writing jily - i think first person just felt weird for me with a canon character as opposed to an original character - and pretty much everything i write now (with the exception of complex, because consistency) is in third person by default. usually it's just one character's voice the entire time (and all the pieces fall is like that, along with most of my one-shots), but exploring multiple points-of-view within the same story is really cool as well! i did that with my most recent one-shot, and 9.9 out of 10 alternates between lily and james' points-of-view nearly every chapter - i think it's a really fun way to look at a situation from multiple perspectives. i don't know if i have a clear favourite - it just depends a lot on the fic for me!

so @LadyMarauder i think my eventual conclusion is that i definitely don't think it'd be too confusing if you changed pov throughout the story! as long as it's clear who's narrating at a given point in time, i think the idea of bouncing back and forth between a bunch of characters can be really fun and entertaining to read 

[something wicked]

25 minutes ago, down-in-flames said:

and pretty much everything i write now (with the exception of complex, because consistency) is in third person by default.

i'm the exact opposite haha 

i started in third person, mostly following the one character and stuck to that for a really long time. it was only when i got more comfortable being literally inside a characters head that i switched to first. now i write pretty much everything in first (aside from yaxley which may partly explain why it takes so long now that i think about it) and probably wouldn't start another third person pov novel again. even within first i've been enjoying paying around with different characters pov's recently. i like just being able to find a new voice for them and get a different perspective on things. it suits the way i like to keep my writing a tad unreliable so suddenly switching and seeing another characters version of events is going to be super fun in the fic i'm working on. 

as a reader i don't think it would be too confusing for you to do at all, go with whatever you think works for the story! 

[Witty Wayfarer]

I started off with first person with my RPF/early Harry Potter fic. Now I write in third person.

[just.a.willow.tree]

I love reading stories that allow peeks through many different characters’ POVs! I definitely don’t think the story would be too confusing! The only situation I could think of (which can easily be prevented) is if you’re writing in first person and switching between various characters’ perspectives without signposting POV changes each time. (I’ve read some published first-person novels where perspectives change between chapters without warning, which was especially confusing. )

No matter which POV you pick, though, I’m sure the fic will be great! It’s exciting you’re picking up an old story.

[GinnyPotter242]

Like Taylor, I started off writing everything in first person. Maybe a couple one-shots in third, especially for challenges. I never quite minded what I read either, I'd read anything in first or third person. Second person POV always threw me off, but I think I'm getting past that now lol.

Nowadays though, I literally cannot bring myself to write in 1st person. I rarely read anything in first either- sometimes it just takes me out of the story? Bad on my end, because I'm sure there are tons of amazing stories I'm missing out on now. My story that I'm currently rewriting/finishing, Goodbye, is a series of connected one-shots and the first two chapters- having been written years ago- are in first person. My main goal in my re-writing is to change it into third person (which, probably, is why I keep putting it off because that's a feat to undertake- at least it's short!) 

As for switching POVS, I've never had a problem with pov switching in third person. I read a lot of fics (and books!) where it switches back and forth, and as long as it still flows well adn is easy to understand that the pov is changed, it's fine for me. First person can be a little more confusing for pov switches- mainly I think, because I get so used to the character speaking being one character, whereas in third person it's like you're looking in and can see all the characters, even if you do have insight into their thoughts. But it can definitely be done well! I'd def recommend looking at some fics that do a similar style of switching POVS throughout. I can try to recommend some if you need suggestions- though probably not HP, I've been lacking on my fav fandom fics here lately! If you do end up picking it back up, I'm sure you'll do great! Write what comes naturally to you and what you feel most comfortable with! 

[Guest pookha]

I write in both 1st and 3rd person, depending on the feel of the story. I prefer 1st person when I'm trying to make the story more personal and direct, and 3rd person when it needs to be more atmospheric, as it is much easier to describe things without having to think about "how would this person describe it." To write more in 1st person, I had to grow comfortable with imagining other's POV's (writing Dudley for this was good practice).

 

For me a good 2nd person story is very rare; 2nd person stories often feel like failed experiments to me (just my preference, not saying it's right or wrong for you to write in 2nd person if you like it!).

[Lost_Robin]

I usually write first person for my OF and third person for fanfic, but one of my longest fanfics is in first person. For me, if it's easy to get into their head and way of thinking, I find it a lot easier to write in first person. But I also like having my slightly-snarky third person narrator like Lemony Snicket always did.

[dreamshadow]

I started writing exclusively in first person. It was just what came naturally to me, and it was easy enough for me to sink into that specific character's mindset.  Sometimes, I think Haunting Shadows was the first fic I did this with, but I alternated POVs, but kept it in first.

Now, though, most of my one-shots are third person. It started as writing The 100 fic in third person -- I think there's a draft of a fic in Emma's pov in first, but that just feels so weird to me.  So I write her exclusively in third person, and same with most HP one-shots; I tend to do third person for those.  However, Seeking Normal is first person and I think it's gonna be exclusively in Maddy's POV for various reasons. 

So I guess my advice is to write whatever feels most natural for you and the story; as you can see with me,  it varies between characters/stories

[TidalDragon]

I generally write in the third person I'd say and it's usually third-person omniscient with POV switching. I only switch characters from scene to scene with line breaks. I would never do the swaps any other way personally and I haven't had anyone telling me it's odd or hard to follow.

I don't think I've ever written third-person limited. Usually I just go first person in those scenarios.

[tatapb]

I do a lot of third person limited and I've recently begun trying out third person omniscient. I sometimes do first person, but it always feels weird at first, possibly because I've never actively done it since I started writing. I feel like my beef with first person is poor exposure, if that makes sense. The other day I started reading an award winning short story that started with something along the lines of "Hello my name is Joe and I'm 13, I like pink and my best friend is a turtle" and I had to stop and take a deep breath before quitting the story because I legit cannot. I know poor exposure isn't specific to first person, but by golly, first person writers do it a lot.