Third past limited . I don ' t always have just one perspective character , but language should serve substance , and I ' m more interested in a solid narrative pitched at my audience than doing anything fancy . First would work on the rare occasion that I only have one significant character , but if I use it , I usually have some kind of different narrative voice a diarist or journalist , for instance , rather than just character narration . I will say that I start a book in one perspective and broaden out after establishing that character as a protagonist . Mileage varies , but most of the books I read don ' t label chapters with the character ' s name , and cementing a particular character as the mc is fairly important .