Narrator?

Do you have a preference, of whether a story is told from the POV of one of the characters in the story, with them serving as narrator? I tend to write all my stories that way, because generally, all stories ive written thus far, I tend to serve as narrator as a fictionalised version of myself and the stories are either embellishments of things that have sort of happened in my life, or fantasies of things I would have liked to.

I am however looking at writing a couple of ideas I have where I do not feature, and I am undecided if the story should still be written from the POV of one of the characters, serving as a narrator, or I I should write it with nobody serving as narrator and just detailing all characters thoughts, feelings and dialogue.

Thoughts?

I have done both first person (what you describe) and third person narratives. Third person gives you some flexibility to shift perspective and see things from another character's viewpoint. You can also introduce things that the narrator might not know. And sometimes, you want to write something that's a bit more outside your experience and would not feel right from a first-person perspective.

But for a short, sex-focused piece with a narrator who is basically you, first probably feels more immediate to the reader. Some genres more conventionally lean to one than the other.

So my story for the current competition is first person, with Mitch as basically my stand-in.

My story for the Elemental competition in March, though, was a fantasy seduction involving a woman generating some serious heat with a fire elemental. That one, I went third person as I often do for lesbian pieces. I just don't feel comfortable getting into a woman's skin, esp. a woman who loves other women. I've done it but I tend not to. Also, there's a scene at the end when other people show up and I needed to be able to write that scene.

So I guess the answer for me is that I write what works for the story. Right now, I'm bashing away at a longer, probably non-erotic or less erotic, piece and it's third person since I have a raft of characters and like to shift the perspective a bit more.

Thanks Seeker,

I am trying to give a 3rd person narrative a go, it’s not as easy as writing first person, was just wondering if readers had a preference, but as you say, probably varies story to story

I think you can be more descriptive in 3rd person. Create a setting and atmosphere and show what you’re seeing. When in 1st person, you always have to worry about keeping his voice consistent while painting the scene for the reader. I think 1st person is best used for a highly emotional or introspective feel from one character.

I tend to write in first person, or sometimes a fairly close third. It feels more personal and intimate. I like getting into the character's subjectivity and playing with the frame of their limited perspective. A more distant third-person feels too 'zoomed-out' for erotic fiction. After all, porn is all extreme close-ups, not wide panoramic shots.

Well, my first attempt at a 3rd person narrative was published today.

https://www.lushstories.com/stories/teen/thats-what-i-go-to-school-for

The vast majority of my stories are written from a first-person perspective, because I envision most of my bisexual-male protagonists as various versions of me.

I’ve used third-person for my two fully gay-protagonist stories, and I did not find it difficult. After all, outside erotica, that is how most fiction is written. My narrator still had access to the thoughts in the protagonist’s head, which I think is almost always essential to a good story.

I also went third-person for one story I did about a woman-to-woman relationship. Personally, I feel Impostor Syndrome writing “as a woman,” and frankly, I often find the result less than genuine when I read other men’s attempts to do that, so my few female-protagonist stories are third-party when I do them at all.

I am so opposite the OP I SUCK and not in the god way at writing first person, mostly because i think in past tense