Avidfan I think you've forgotten the legendary second person style of writing. They exist, and are more wish fulfilling than any first person perspective can ever be and are perhaps the most awkward to read in narrative while also likely the most difficult to write.

I'm not sure that first person is actually easy to write... At least it's difficult to do it well, since good first person won't actually spam I's. It also has the constraint of a limited perspective and can be difficult to keep a consistent voice if it is dissimilar to your own. Most authors actually end up using limited third person or third person omniscient, and it takes less effort to do it well.

      I only prefer to read and also write in third person pov. Why?
      Because you will be too much enclosed and cannot describe many things, as well as you may not understand what intention the author. Lastly, you cannot let your imaginations go wild and free with other perspectives, only third person pov provide you freedom. I hate shackles, I hate first person' view. I dont want to be strongly against those types. some of unique examples exists and they are really readible. I am talking about general first person pov or multi pov...

        I like to use "coral 3rd person" (don't know the technical name). It's the one where the thoughts of the characters melt in the narration.
        It's super-hard to do it well, and mine is just a variation that allows me not to stop the narration to present thoughts (especially if I'm writing in the past tense, and dialogues and thoughts are in the present).
        The best ever examples of this style are from more than a century ago. It looks like you're listening to gossip, the narration is like the thoughts of the "mass" of people i.e. living in a village.

        This is just to say that there are so many variations of POV that one can find a way to write their story. However, the important part is to stick to the style and not change in the middle. It's one of the principal challenges and rules for good writing: stay consistent.

        KoraL

        The reason why I saying that it is the easiest to write is because composition always start with 'Peter and I'. It part of basic composition and basic english lessons.

        That is why alot of young authors that did not read alot are so confused if 3rd party pov are acceptable or not. You can almost guess what their age group is.

        The reality is, first person pov is very difficult to write well unless you're an experienced writer. Usually not many people who reads alot will enjoy writing first person pov. It is just too limited. Most people prefers the role of following the main lead and other chars, not becoming the MC itself.

        I even saw inexperienced young people comments chinese novels are always 3rd person pov and never in first pov. These readers do like their "I" alot and believes that most stories are written in first person pov.

            MissCringeyAuthor
            Usually diaries are written in the first person point of view. Writng from that POV is really hard work.
            It's easier to write "in the third".

                Avidfan I agree on this, especially when talking about English!
                I've noticed only recently how weird it is to read 1st person pov stories (eh, I noticed too late :( )
                The grammar constructions force you to specify the subject in every sentence, which didn't look that limiting at the beginning (especially in 3rd p.), but it transforms the paragraphs in lists of statements if you don't pay much attention to what you're writing.
                I don't agree that the purpose of writing in 1p is to let the reader "become the MC". It's what happens, but I don't think it should be the purpose. At least, if the writer is aimint at producing something that can be considered an artwork and not just wishfulfilment text.
                What I like about the 1p is that it feels like a testimony rather than simple storytelling (if well written, of course).

                  I write in third. First person is hard mainly because you can only use details that the mc would know. You can't see into other people's heads. And that's not easy to do

                    MissCringeyAuthor Weird? I don't think any perspective is that. It depends on the story outcome and comes down to the unfolding of the protagonist wants and needs. If a 3rd person POV will achieve the outcome intended that's the perspective the story is told from.

                    First person can be harder to control the flow of the story unless characters are moving according to an outline with goals and stakes. A writer would also need to get deep into the characters psyche and play on the wants/needs more keenly. They would also need to find devices to help fill gaps of what the protagonist's eyes don't see etc, as the narrative is linear to one perspective.

                    Third-person limited can achieve a slight distant view point, but still at a personal level. It's the preferred choice of narrative for some people since it has the best of both a personal viewpoint and being able to switch view points around without having to break the story flow.

                    Third-person omniscient can tell the story at an objective view point. So, the reader can feel like they're a god unfolding the story. Mythologies tend to be told quite well from this viewpoint.

                    Second-person is really the same as third-person limited but replacing the names of the protagonist with "You". And typically writing in present tense like a CYOA story.

                    Again, it depends on the story outcomes. As well as audience target and genre.

                      As an author, I cannot imagine writing in a first person POV for so many reasons.

                      I mean, once in a while I do go ahead and do like a letter or like some sort of other dialogue in first person, however this is very rare of me for the following reasons.

                      1. You can do everything in third person that you do in third person, but better. Or at least, better in my opinion. Which sounds better?

                      "She felt as if her heart had been ripped from her chest."
                      "I felt as if my heart had been ripped from my chest."

                      Nobody says stuff like that. It sounds unnatural. People don't talk like narrators. And I love my narration.

                      1. You can easily switch from one place to another, and aren't confined to the information of the character you write from.

                      2. You can write from either 3rd person limited, which is sorta writing 3rd person but from someone's perspective and knowledge, which I actually do quite often, or 3rd person omnipotent, where you just write from the perspective of a narrator. I like to use a variety of these to spice up the overall tone and style of my writing.

                      Anyways, not that first person stories are bad. I've read a number of good ones, but I could never do that as an author. My writing simply doesn't allow for that, and I don't feel like it would be anywhere near as good.

                        First person does allow for some things that this person can't. For example, you can give the narrator a personality. This is done with purpose in books like To Kill a Mockingbird where the innocence of the narrator is important to delve into the poisonousness of prejudice, or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time which pulls the reader into the mind of a person with Asperger's Syndrome.

                        There's also the opportunity for the reader to disagree with the narrator instead of treating the text as WordOfGod. For example, it would be much harder to sympathize with an antagonist if you had to write them from an objective prospective than if the narrator just kept cursing at them.

                        It's also a good way to limit information from a reader and if paired with present tense can make for a nerve-wracking thriller.

                          Dubstheduke

                          Yes, that is right. You can actually write in third party then branch off to 1st or 2nd easily.

                          For example;
                          Peter was dumbfounded. "I shouldn't have done that." (3rd followed by 1st).

                          But I know why the teens are confused and thought that 1st POV is the thing to go. They have been reading too much of a broken Japanese translation.

                          For example, when doing a English translation of chinese, the sentences must be reversed too. But most translation does not follow this rule so it becomes broken MTL translation.

                          As for Japanese translation, it is following the chinese structure as well and should be reversed too. The worst thing that happens when is the translators are noobs in Japanese and English at the same time. When translating first person pov in japanese, it ok not to put " " because the so call first person pov is actually a 3rd person pov. But if you translate it into English and you have:

                          Where am I?

                          This corridor looks weird?

                          There is a door here. Should I open it?

                          No, wait!

                          There may be a trap here!

                          A shadow sudden flashes from across the corridor.

                          What is that shadow?

                          Knock! Knock!

                          What is that sound?

                          There is no speech recognition ' ' to denote thoughts.

                          In Chinese and Japanese, they don't use it because it still looks perfectly ok to read since they don't follow the English rules.

                          But when it got translated into English and you have tons of young teens writing japanese style LN, it becomes an international joke due to bad and improper translation. This is call DIRECT translation heck care any rules.

                          You suddenly have an English Story written in Japanese direct translation, that doesn't follow any English/Japanese/Chinese rules.

                              Avidfan
                              Yes I have certainly seen stories like that. It simply doesn't work, it sounds bad overall, and there is no care taken to the wording. As an American writing an original, I would never in a hundred years consider writing like that. The choppy sentences, yeah- I'll do those. But if I do it, it will sound reasonable- and it wont all be in first person, that's for sure. Only thoughts and dialogue will be first person. Not descriptions. People don't look around and think 'There is a door here.' They see the door, and they understand.

                                  Perspective can be anything, just don’t switch mid story. Use whatever is best or easiest to tell your story. Take care to think about WHO the NARRATOR is.

                                  If your story is a person telling the reader about a time in his/her past, then you should use first person. It would be weird if I said something to you in third person: “Last year shadowdrake27 wrote a story about Merlin the magician.” No, I’m going to say, “Last year I wrote a story about Merlin the magician.” Also, the narrator can only know their own thoughts and what happened around them. You can’t switch perspectives unless you switch narrators.

                                  If your story is an all knowing entity that follows multiple story lines, then they should be a third person perspective. It would be strange if the narrator was to say “I” or “my” when it is not an actual character telling the story.

                                  Mind you, dialogue can look like a different perspective, but it’s not:

                                  Then main character 1 said, “I love you!”

                                  That is a third person story. The use of the word “I” is in quotes. The narrator is telling you what they said in third person. First person would look like the following:

                                  Then I said, “I love you!”

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