Do you prefer first or third person?

[thedude3445]

Second person of course

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

I do both. When the story is being told from the POV of a character, then I'd use 1st person. Otherwise, 3rd person seems to be my default.

[SadSnake]

I like being all over the place, i switch between first and third, characters everything depending on how i want to tell a particular part of the story

[marbl]

I'm used to writing in 1st person, but I do prefer 3rd person sometimes.

[toohalloo]

If I were to read the question and answer it as directed, it'd be first, but the honest answer is second. I just really enjoy the strict subjectivity and tone of a good first or second person narrative voice.

[emanon]

third person for me. i feel like first person would be more suited to introspective narrations, so i tend to avoid this if the themes are anything but solemn in their thoughts and dialogues (the little prince by antoine de saint-exupéry is one of my fav examples of first person). third person can also achieve this so it's more flexible, and plus there are more aspects to it that you can use from omniscient, to limited, etc.

but it still goes without saying that different povs can have different end results depending on the execution of the storytelling! like which one do you want to focus more on? inter-personal relationships, or the world? or the narrator itself? or all of it?

[djourner]

Seems i'm the minority here, I actually like first-person better.
The reason I like first person, and why I made the decision to use for my works, is mostly due to character proximity, I just feel more connected to the characters when they are 'in my face', when I can read their inner monologue and understand what makes them tick, and first person works best for that.
Do not get me wrong I understand both views can accomplish this, but first person has a few tricks which I like more than third.
At the core of it all, the narrator has to be entertaining, regardless if first or third person, but I like first person better because I trust my characters can carry the story on their own shoulders as opposed to mine.

I also like the use of first person to purposely hide information or change how information is delivered, in my story I shift perspectives every now and then, and I often use that to showcase how differently the characters view things.
Vernon is often quietly pessimistic while putting on a facade of 'everything is fine'
Azreth looks very confident, but is very self-deprecating and freaks out on the inside, also he is a people's person so he often knows the others better than himself.
Grey is generally calm and methodic in his delivery, and often plans lines ahead for better delivery.
All three of these characters are different, so it makes sense for them to narrate differently, and it just wouldn't translate as well if it was third person.
If all three of them describe the exact same scene, it would be viewed differently, and I like to play around with that... To make the reader dream up what is going on inside the perspectives they don't have access too while a certain character narrates.