POV questions for everyone.

[Tempokai]

Everyone knows that there are three POVs, of which two are used in fiction a lot: 1st POV and 3rd POV. These POVs can be used in different ways, be they omniscient/limited, objective/subjective, or reliable/unreliable. The use of POV is usually an authorial preference, and how it is used often correlates to taste or choice. But I want to ask what makes different POV styles work and how you can explain them. So here are the questions:

1. What is POV, and how does it affect storytelling? What makes 1st POV and 3rd POV different besides being an inside/outside perspective of the plot? Why do you choose your preferred POV besides saying it is just how you write or you don’t know?

2. Why do those three categories into which I’ve divided POV matter? In your opinion, what does POV do besides serve as a lens through which the story is told?

3. Why do novice readers and writers love 1st POV, while more veteran readers and writers don’t care and/or prefer 3rd POV? What makes 1st POV a noob magnet? What makes 3rd person limited more viable for long‑form (webnovel) storytelling, while short forms can use any type of POV with a reasonable amount of success?

POV is by far a more objective topic out there, yet it is often misunderstood. I want to read your answers. I’ll answer these questions in a few days as well.


Edit: grenmar fix

 

[RepresentingCaution]

2nd person is the most immersive, the best for smut, and the only reason I'm not using it is because it's against the rules on fanfiction.net.

 

[MarekSusicky]

Everyone knows that there's three POV's, on which two are used in fiction a lot: 1st POV and 3rd POV. Those POVs can be used in different ways, be it omniscient/limited, objective/subjective, reliable/unreliable. The use of POV usually is authorial preference, and how it's used often correlates to the taste/choice. But, I want to ask, what makes different POV styles work, and how you can explain them. So, here are the questions:

1. What is POV and how it affects the storytelling? What makes 1st POV and 3rd POV different besides being inside/outside perspective of the plot? Why you choose your preferred POV besides being it's how I write/dunno?

2. Why those three categories I've written above POV divides into matters? What POV does besides being a lens from which the story is told, in your opinion?

3. Why novice readers and writers love 1st POV, while more veteran readers and writers don't care/prefer 3rd POV? What makes the 1st POV noob magnet? What makes 3rd person limited is more viable for long form (webnovel) storytelling, while short form can use any type of POV with reasonable amount of success?


The POV is by far more objective topic out there, and yet it is often misunderstood. I want to read your answers. I'll answer these questions in few days too.

I love first pov, or third person limited for single-pov (or mainly single-pov) stories. Both are awesome for the immersion. I love it because nothing screams deeply personal like narrating your own trainwreck in real time. Intimately, yeah? It's like eavesdropping on someone else's breakdown... and you care (well, in theory).

For stories with multiple pov MCs I prefer third person and dislike first person.

 

[Corty]

I don't know if I would categorize either as noob or pro at all.

As someone writing in both, I know they have their uses, pros, and cons. I write 1st person when I want the story to flow more quickly, to make the focus on one character and his experiences as the MC. At the same time, I use 3rd person when I want the story to be slower, giving more time and focus to multiple characters at once and have the story play out in a more elongated curve, approaching it from various characters' POV.

Edit:

Thinking more about it… I never felt limited to writing in the third person. Although yes, it is easier to write in the first person, I am of the opinion that both methods require the same skill to make them work. Equally.

Both need ample work to be good, just on different aspects of it.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Everyone knows that there are three POVs, of which two are used in fiction a lot: 1st POV and 3rd POV. These POVs can be used in different ways, be they omniscient/limited, objective/subjective, or reliable/unreliable. The use of POV is usually an authorial preference, and how it is used often correlates to taste or choice. But I want to ask what makes different POV styles work and how you can explain them. So here are the questions:

1. What is POV, and how does it affect storytelling? What makes 1st POV and 3rd POV different besides being an inside/outside perspective of the plot? Why do you choose your preferred POV besides saying it is just how you write or you don’t know?

The Point of View is the specific "voice" or "character" the author has chosen to present the story. In First person, it is the character (or, if the lead rotates, the CURRENT character) events effect directly. In third person, the Author is an unseen force narrating the story for the audience, and usually not a character in the story (there are definite, rare exceptions).
If I have a single lead character or am mimicking a genre (e.g. noir) that uses First Person, that is what I choose. If I have a larger cast or am working in a genre that either traditionally is third person or which just "feels better" in 3P, I go with that.

2. Why do those three categories into which I’ve divided POV matter? In your opinion, what does POV do besides serve as a lens through which the story is told?

You only mention two - First and Third, but there are traditionally FOUR - First, Second, Third Limited and Third Omniscient.
First person allows you to lead (and even mislead) the reader - either intentionally, through an "unreliable narrator" or unintentionally because the narrator does not know all the details of the story, so only presents what they currently believe - and how they learn they are right or wrong in their beliefs. It also makes it easier to "break the fourth wall" without disrupting the flow of the story, making asides to the reader, editorial comments, and even inside jokes that may not fit the flow of the STORY but fit the nature of the CHARACTER.
Third Person allows you to follow more characters without switching narrative voice, allows you to show scenes that the main cast are not a part of, and allows you to step outside of the story for a moment to put forward lore without it feeling forced in dialogue or character observations. The Omniscient version even lets you get inside the heads of multiple characters to show their thought processes and emotions, while the limited version often feels more immersive and immediate as you only relate the senses that the characters and, by projection, reader share.

3. Why do novice readers and writers love 1st POV, while more veteran readers and writers don’t care and/or prefer 3rd POV? What makes 1st POV a noob magnet? What makes 3rd person limited more viable for long‑form (webnovel) storytelling, while short forms can use any type of POV with a reasonable amount of success?

Honestly, I'm very curious about this myself - I think the "newbie magnet" status of 1p may be a confirmation bias thing and not a fact, as I know when I started, third person seemed MUCH easier (and I've done some 2p writing as well) and it took me a while before I was willing to try writing first person fiction.
AFAICT, 3P Omniscient seems to be favored for the more successful (though not necessarily the BEST) long-form fiction pieces - e.g. "My Vampire System" has some truly horrendous writing (or maybe just a gawdawful translation), but is one of the top audionovels out there, and a very popular webnovel as well and it uses Third Person omni (focusing mostly on Quinn Talen but other characters often become focal for a few chapters before reverting).
As for why short form is more "anything goes" - it's much easier to "stay in character" for shorter periods of time. The writer may grow tired of a character's perspective, especially in 1p or 3p limited, and need to wrap up the story and maybe come back to it later for a break.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

I really love narratives the most. Third person is great too, because you have the omnipotent, ever-present god looking down on everything, but it doesn't hold the same sway to me as the protagonist's perspective.

You essentially become that person, hearing their words in your mind, knowing their thoughts, catching on to their their plucky accents, their quirks and idiosyncrasies. their view of the world around them. Take "Moby Dick" for example. We see Ishmael's perspective on everything happening to the end of Ahab's life, and yet if someone else were telling the story, he would probably have a completely different take on everything. So, that's the great thing about narration. Yes, you get one person's perspective, but if written well, your reader should be satisfied with just that single perspective.

 

[TASTYLEADPAINT]

Everyone knows that there are three POVs, of which two are used in fiction a lot: 1st POV and 3rd POV. These POVs can be used in different ways, be they omniscient/limited, objective/subjective, or reliable/unreliable. The use of POV is usually an authorial preference, and how it is used often correlates to taste or choice. But I want to ask what makes different POV styles work and how you can explain them. So here are the questions:

1. What is POV, and how does it affect storytelling? What makes 1st POV and 3rd POV different besides being an inside/outside perspective of the plot? Why do you choose your preferred POV besides saying it is just how you write or you don’t know?

2. Why do those three categories into which I’ve divided POV matter? In your opinion, what does POV do besides serve as a lens through which the story is told?

3. Why do novice readers and writers love 1st POV, while more veteran readers and writers don’t care and/or prefer 3rd POV? What makes 1st POV a noob magnet? What makes 3rd person limited more viable for long‑form (webnovel) storytelling, while short forms can use any type of POV with a reasonable amount of success?

POV is by far a more objective topic out there, yet it is often misunderstood. I want to read your answers. I’ll answer these questions in a few days as well.


Edit: grammar fix

1. Pov affects how a story or moment is received. For example, romance and personality moments, imo, are better in the first than 3rd. Whilst action sequences are a lot clearer to follow in 3rd person. However, this isn't an iron-clad rule; there are exceptions, and you can use either in any situation, and it could work well. 1st person fight scene can feel hectic and crazy, putting you, the reader, "in the moment" whilst 3rd person romance is excellent if you want to communicate how every person feels at that particular time.

2. It doesn't matter. It's a preference I have never snubbed at a story because it's written in third person. After all, I like 1st. As an author, pov is a tool for the author to use to help communicate their ideas on the page.

3. I disagree with the statement that 1st is a noob magnet. People new to writing should stick to what they find easiest to write. Both 3rd and 1st are viable for long-term and short-term; it depends on the author and the story they want to write.

 

[LilRora]

1. POV (done correctly) is the limit we impose on the information that can be known to the reader. I prefer to distinguish more types than just three (for example omniscient / limited knowledge, or dynamic / stationary, especially applicable to the 3rd POV), but there are plenty of differences just between those three broad categories. The main one is how we see the plot (as an observer or participant), but equally if not more important is how we see emotions - or how we feel them in the 1st or 2nd POV, but which does not work great in the 3rd POV. This is one of the aspects of the first point I made. Some things are reasonable to know from the perspective of an observer but cannot be seen by characters, while other matters wouldn't be apparent to an outsider (who is not omniscient), but distinct and immediately relevant to the characters.

When writing, I frequently choose my POV based on that. Though it is a simplification, I think generally 1st POV should be used if we want to show the character, and 3rd POV if we want to show the plot this character takes part in.

2. ...I kinda already answered that? It is important to note that it serves as a lens both into the narrative past and present, so context and worldbuilding just as well as plot.

3. I have not observed any of that. 1st POV is much more difficult to write in some respects, and much easier in other matters. I'm guessing you are alluding to the fact 1st POV is broadly more constraining than 3rd POV, which means the writer has less things to describe and less opportunities to mess up, but can feel limiting to more experienced writers.

 

[ResidentDeviant]

My favourite would be:
Limited 3rd Person - Overall the best all-rounder out there.

Otherwise:
1st Person - Best if you want reader to identify and empathize with a character, also it's easier to convey character's emotions using 1st person than 3rd person due to intimate nature of this POV.
Omniscient 3rd Person - Useful if you want convey to the reader things that your characters might miss. Or for some ominous foreshadowing.
2nd Person - Good for CYOA stories, I guess.

 

[Deleted member 166465]

You forgot the P***hub POV... I am not joking, have you seen how much degeneracy there is in here, BL, GL, Genderbender, Smut, Bra**ers got nothing on us.
Ohh and dont forget the furries.

 

[Golden_Hyde]

Funnily enough, I didn't use the term POV as much as everyone else in here. Throughout my writing sessions, I always use the word "perspective" rather than "point of view". It might not be the same, but sometimes people would conflate those two. And frankly, I limited it to two instead of three or four.

There's first person perspective, which is obvious to us all, and there's third person perspective, which tend to be omniscient.

As for second person perspective... I don't know what that would look like, so I didn't count it.

Nevertheless, writing in first person generally is to make the readers immersing themselves with the character that was featured in the story, and I presume it draws new reader easier than stories written in third person. Also the easiest to write for newcomer authors, primarily because 1). they can self-insert better and 2.) they can write whatever type of character they wanted to show in the story easier.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

As for second person perspective... I don't know what that would look like, so I didn't count it.

Fearing you didn't understand second person, you posted stating that you were unsure of what it would look like, but now you are experiencing some doubts as to the matter. Maybe you need a sandwich. Or a Snickers(TM) bar.

 

[Golden_Hyde]

Fearing you didn't understand second person, you posted stating that you were unsure of what it would look like, but now you are experiencing some doubts as to the matter. Maybe you need a sandwich. Or a Snickers(TM) bar.

Admittedly, I still don't understand how it worked and how to write one, so I avoided it for the rest of my writing career

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

POV is like a camera which is either attached to a character(1st POV) or viewed in a outsider's view/spectator(3rd POV) Most prefer the 1st since they are becoming the main character and slowly goes into the perspective of the character's mind in dealing with situations in front of them. When developing the worldview, 3rd POV gives the readers on how their actions affect their surroundings and the consequences of their actions.

Sometimes, 1st POV lets readers try to understand the character and think in their perspective in how their minds work and how their actions affect others based on their mind and personality.

3rd on the other hand, you will distant yourself from the characters and be a spectator who views things in your own way, without attaching yourself to those people and learn more of the world and see how they developed just by being an outsider whose learning it on the go.

 

[KUWABARA]

In the other POV thread I said 1st was a noob trap and maybe it's not so true and there was a bit of bias on my part, it just so happens the webnovel stories I might give curious reads are too many on the bad side and the ones that do it well not so many. Namely, seeing fellow fledgling authors make the mistake of also writing in present tense.

Yet there's successful tradpub authors like Patricia Cornwell (to name a few like Trace, From Potter's Field, and Black Notice, and present tense too to boot) and many more classics who wrote this way (but maybe without the present tense stuff.. yeesh...) and it's fine so really it just boils down to whatever you may like an experiment and you'll be surprised which clicks and which doesn't. Don't listen to what a few snobbish naysayers on the internet dictate what you can or can't do.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Present tense works best with Second Person (especially if you can also avoid passive voice most of the time).