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I would have to say that my favourite PoV is first person. It does have that level more of intimacy than third person and is often easier to communicate to a reader because it's almost like having one person talking to another and relating a story.

I have written a few of my novels in third person though, and I won't shy away from it if I think it's what the story needs. My current trilogy, for example, will have the first two books written in third person personal (with more of an emphasis on the main character of each novel; it has their thoughts rather than those of other characters), and the final novel will be in first person, present tense to put this character apart from the others.

I guess you can do a lot with PoV, all sorts of clever stuff, because whichever way you do it you can interact with your audience in a different way. It would seem that first person present tense might be the most personal way to address a reader, but third person omnscient at the other extreme of the scale allows a much wider view of the story as a whole and leads to a more rounded interpretation of the text. It depends entirely what kind of effect you want. =O

I usually find it easy to write in first person (usually just going with first person past tense unless I want to do anything fancy) but with this trilogy I actually stuggled. Originally they were all going to be written in the same way, but then I decided that I wanted them to be more individual; the third character, for example, needs to be set apart from the others because of her role in the story as a whole. I then thought about writing them all differently: third person past, third person present, first person present. But, after a lot of thought it just didn't seem right, so with the second novel I'm writing the bulk of it in third person past, with third person present sections of incomplete narrative (it would make more sense if you read it XD) and diary entries in first person.

XD

Sorry.. I kind of rambled a bit there. But, at least you know how I stand with point of view. >_>

I have an affection for third person personal. I think you can get very much into a characters head that way. I also think that it is possible that first person narratives can be limited. *shrug* To each their own, of course. But I really have a thing against second person. It is just too often bad. I've seen it used effectively a few times, but those times do not outweigh the bad. Also, I don't know that I've ever seen a novel written in second person. Are there any?

I like to write third person limited. You can stick to insights from one character, but you can have a narrator with a style removed from whoever's POV you're using, which can be useful for head trips and such.

And I do love headtrips.

I can only seem to write first person if I'm also in present tense. And then, still not very well in either regard #^_^#.

I usually just write in third person, unless it is one specific character, then I do first person, because it fits him best.

Third gives me the freedom to go from one character to another, since for at least one story, I have about nine or so major characters involved, then a ton of smaller ones. It is just easier for me to go from character to character this way.

I prefer Third Person because it gives me the freedom to do Third Person Multiple, Limited, and Omniscient. I generally use Omniscient and Multiple and rarely ever use Limited.
There have been times I've used First person and I didn't like it much. I kept switching from "I" "We" "Us" to "He/She" "They" "Them"
It was annoying going back to fix seven pages of mistakes involving point of view.

How comfortable do you guys feel switching character POV's in first person versus switching character POV's in Third?

Personally I enjoy witching in third better. For some reason first seem a little TOO personal for the switch up. That, and it seems more limited to me.

Thoughts?

I mostly use third person, but first is awesome as well!

I feel that in third person, you can usually put in more detail without making it sound so out of the ordinary, but that's just me.

I love first person however because it gives you the chance to truly think like you are the character you're writing about. I recently read 'The Lightning Thief' and it's an amazing book (if any of you have read it, you know what I'm talking about) it's written in first person, and the author truly makes you feel like he IS the character, he IS the one telling about what he experienced. However, it's fictional, so it really messes with your mind!

Basically, both points of view are great, it just depends on your story and how YOU feel about it.