Tense and point of view

Past, present and future tense; first, second and third person point of view - which type do you enjoy writing with the most? How about reading them? Do you ever find yourself slipping up with tense? Does your writing style change depending on your point of view? Do you tend to stick with one, or are you experimenting between them?

I tend to adopt the 'traditional' past-tense, third-person style when I write, though I have plans to and have read up on when writing in other tenses and POV fit a story (mainly first-person is what I am interested in trying). I don't think it fits every character, and when a character does not have an interesting inner voice/inner dialogue, it can even detract from the writing. I have a few instances in mind where I think it will be appropriate to go into first-person for my own writing, but I haven't gotten there yet. :P I found this article useful for understanding how to make first-person fun to read and write, and I want to try putting these tips to use eventually.

Third-person past-tense is also what I am most used to reading as a reader, and as this article points out:

It has the advantage of reading easily and smoothly: if you want readers not to notice your style and to get absorbed in the story, past tense is a good way to go – especially with third person narrative.

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Which I find kinda true, because I've found other tenses and POV distracting when I am reading sometimes, though of course, I think for the purposes of RPing, it's great to have some fun and just experiment even if it may not necessarily 'fit'.

When I JP with Anna and Groc, they very commonly use present-tense, which has more "immediacy" to it and I've come to like reading it as well, especially for action-y things (which Pokemon battles tend to be). When I first started JPing this way, I did find myself slipping up a lot because I am so used to writing in past tense, but I've gotten pretty comfortable at switching between them now (as in, between posts, since I will still write past tense on my own but I do not mind writing present tense with others).

I often change tenses and POVs depending on the posts, and I like to experiment! But I don't think I have any particular method to my madness, and I slip up quite often still.
Often it's just easy to start from a simple summary of what you want your character to do, and write a better version of it for your post. Typically that turns into third person past tense - which allows to just explain all the things that happened to your character, pointing out what you think is important and leaving out the rest.

If I'm in a particular situation where I want to showcase more thoughts, even there on the spot, present tense seems to work better! It's something that works better for impulsive characters too, such as Courtney or Hikaru, and - like Juno pointed out - battles, action-packed scenes, all that. I especially like first person in this case, mostly because it helps me to get in the head of my character!

Second person is something I've explored, and I often use it when I want to emphasize the thought process of someone... as if they had to explain it to someone and reveal why they did certain choices. It's probably even more of a personal way of narrating something, because everything seems to be filtered through not just the character, but their inner voice in their head, their conscience - or whatever it is that tells them what they should do! Though... there are still many more ways I could experiment with all of these tenses and POVs. Guess I'll have to come back to this question someday~

I primarily write in third person in the past tense. Especially in RPing where it makes it easier for a bunch of distinct writers to blend together in joint posts.

When it comes to solo writing, I'm a little more flexible. I often writer first person as well depending on what the story I'm working on is about. That being said, it's not something that happens as the result of a lot of deep thought. It's more about what I instinctually gravitate towards as my creative vision for that story. I suppose that if I were to quantify it, it would largely depend on how dependent the narrative was on the thoughts and feelings of the perspective character. The more the inside of their head mattered comparatively to the rest of the cast, the more likely it is that I'll write in first person. In stories I have done with only a single character, those have always been first person, for example.

I can say though, I'm not really a fan of present tense or second person. For the former, there's something that always feels clunky and off-putting about reading as though someone is narrating their actions to you as they take them, or a commentator is describing events to you as they happen. I don't get any of the punch from it that others do, I just feel very awkwardly aware of the fact I'm reading a story. For the latter, it's just extremely immersion breaking to be told you are doing something, when you are very aware you aren't.

There's always exceptions though. Every now and then I stumble across something present tense or second person I really enjoy. It's just harder to get me to enjoy it and for that reason I don't write in those styles much myself.

Hmm, I typically use third person and past tense, just because it's the easiest thing to read and what most people use for writing. I have tried writing in first person using both tenses before, and have an idea for a story using second person present tense, but I also don't think my writing is currently strong enough to support something like that.

I slip up with tense every so often, but I typically will catch it right away. There are times when I have intentionally changed the tense to emphasize the feeling of a scene, but it can be jarring if you're not careful.

I also tend to write third person and past tense as that's what is easiest for me. When I first started writing seriously I would switch tenses without knowing oof. I probably still on occasion but I think I've gotten much better at it. There was only one or two occasions I attempted first person, though I might try it again one day.

I haven't tried writing present tense yet but I'm read with reading them. Funny thing is a lot of times in fanfiction the more popular writers and those that like get accepted into fanzines write in present tense.

when it comes to songwriting i'm always guilty of randomly changing POV just to fit the lyrical meter better lol. if we're talking preference though, the easiest for me to write in is present tense - first person. it allows me to be more conversational with my tone, which is something i always have fun working with. i'm a casual guy after all~

i'd like to learn how to better write in third person though, especially in the form of talking about someone else's life. it's never been my strong suit to tell stories about other people. narrating has a sense of formality to it that i personally find difficult to pull off well.