Tense and point of view

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Do you guys have a preferred tense or point of view to write in? How about when reading stories? Are there some that you dislike? Will you refuse to read something if it's from a POV that you hate?

I really like writing in second person for some reason. Some of my favourite fanfics are also written in second person. I just feel like it draws me into the story more. My favourite books are usually written in third person and I prefer that to first.

I usually prefer past tense over present outside of second person, where present works quite well.

[VeloJello]

Right now I'm actually working on my GCeA entry in two tenses - first person present for the story itself, first person past for the flashbacks. I tend to vary my POV, but I prefer either third person past (limited) or first person present. First present feels more engaging to me, but third person past has a good flow in general.

[Suicune's Fire]

I have this thing where I hate present tense and I similarly hate second person. xD I can't read a story if it's in either of those because it annoys me so much. Third person is my favourite, but first person can give you a great insight into characters' minds, especially as a writer. You can also go for a more narrative feel if you do it from first person.


~SF.

[Dragon Master Mike]

Present tense is... meh. I pretty much always right in past tense. I also don't really care for second person. I have nothing against third person, but for some reason I prefer writing in first person better. I usually don't write in third person unless I plan to be jumping around between characters a quite a bit. Actually, I don't even think I've ever written a story that I jumped around between characters a lot, that is just the time that I would imagine myself using it... not to mention the fact that a story that jumped around between characters a lot would probably have to be a longer story, and I am incapable of writing stories that are too long and not losing interest.

[Felly]

I normally write in past tense, but I do write in present tense for some things like RP. Usually third person too, but there's the occasion where I write in first person too. I've done a handful of second person things, but not many.

I prefer third person the most just because it's the easiest, but I like first person too. Second person isn't really my favorite, but I'll use it if I have a cool idea for it.

[SassySnivy]

It really depends on what kind of tone you're trying to set that should determine what pov you use.

This being said, I've ready MANY a reader insert, and there are actually two different "second person point of views."

There's a second-first person pov and a second-third person pov from what I've observed.

The first one tells it an in "you," of course, but like first-person pov, it focuses mostly on the thoughts of the character that "you" are supposed to be. The second one uses the omnipresent, third-party type of narration that can kinda go into the minds of any of the characters in the plot, but is also less personal. Usually with reader inserts, what we see is the second-first-person pov, because it's the most involving.

Please note that I totally bull****ed those names....but nonetheless!

Past-tense is the easiest to work with and the most widely-accepted tense. Present tense is a little more difficult to work with.