So this is thread is inspired by a status bar discussion we had on the site a few weeks ago that I keep thinking about and would like to have some more input on. The long and short of it is: 

[b]When Roleplaying, what tense and perspectives do you find appropriate and/or useful to write from?[/b]

The general consensus seemed to be that most people preferred (and expected) roleplays to be primarily conducted through the third person past - although there were a few exceptions. I also generally prefer the third person past as a default for roleplaying. It makes the weaving of different character perspectives easier, and as the most common style of roleplaying (at least on this site) its safest bet in terms of meshing well with other writers. But, I have written and still do write in other styles for specific reasons I will outline below:

1) [b]Thoughts[/b] - This one is actually very common I think, and its using first person in order to portray inner dialogue or your character's feelings.

2) [b]Dreams[/b] - The other change in writing style I like to use relatively often is changing tense/perspective for dream sequences or states of altered consciousness. The slip from past to present I think is a really good way to make the experience seem more disorientating, more fluid, more unstable. Changing to first person can also emphasis the inherent subjectivity of such experiences, rather than the more omniscient third person.

3) [b]GMing[/b] - Some people like to use second person perspective for describing events while GMing a scene. I've seen people do this, and I do this in table top roleplays, but generally not in a play by post - although I don't rule out using it in the future.  

So, other than these, are there any other times you would change Tense or Perspective when roleplaying? Do you roleplay in a tense other than third person past? If not, would you ever consider it? 

Leave your thoughts below.