I'm developing an idea for a new story and I'm at the bit where I try to figure out what POV I'm going to use. I don't like writing in 2nd, so that leaves 1st and 3rd. I'm also working on the protagonist's character and right now have the option for them to be either male or female. I'm curious what peoples preference might be, either as an author, reader, or both? I've given two votes per person in the poll.
I tend to default to 3rd person female. Although I'm debating a story told entirely through correspondence which might allow for a more interesting 1st person approach. 2nd person is more common in game stories and the like.
3rd was always my default but I seem to have slowly moved to 1st. I love the idea of a story told entirely through correspondence. I can't think of them now but I know there are books written entirely as letters, and more recently as emails. It's a great premise, I'd love to read it.
As an old fan of the original Choose Your Own Adventure books (which were not sexy and were written for children), my tendency is to follow their lead and write in second person. YOU are the protagonist, YOU make the choices, YOU watch her tits bounce wildly as she rides you, etc. Not everyone is a fan of either writing or reading that way; one of the biggest issues is that when you read such stories, there will be times when the protagonist does something that you yourself just wouldn't do, and it totally spoils the suspension of disbelief. On the other hand, it makes the story extremely immersive. I think that as long as one writes the protagonist as a character who represents what most people would actually like to be, it works; it's the one time when you can create a total Mary Sue and still have it be something people actually want to read. And, it's important to anticipate where the reader would really want for there to be a choice, even if you don't actually plan on writing more than one branch there yourself. For instance, when you get to a part where the protagonist is about to have sex with someone, it's vital that there be a choice there insofar as whether they go ahead with it or not, because that's a choice people will want to make themselves. I feel I can write from the either a male or female POV, but if she's female she's going to be lesbian. That's just my personal preference; I would rather not imagine and write from the POV of a character getting turned on by and having sex with a man, because I myself am sexually attracted only to women. I'm writing here for fun, not money or accolades, so I write how I wanna.
I think it totally depends on the story. I usually go for a 1st POV female, but as a reader I can enjoy any perspective.
My favorite novel-in-correspondence is Ella Minnow Pea. Not the least bit sexy, but incredibly creative and fun, particularly if you like language and messing around with language.
