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First person or Third person?

Third person...much prefered.

I've tried first person a few times, but I struggle at times to make things know by other characters without having them talk. I've also used two narrators with slightly different points of view, alternating chapters, telling either the next part from their view, or retelling the same thing as the previous chapter from their own perspective... which can be vastly different depending on the characters.

I decide which one to write when I sit down at the words come. Sometimes it automatically comes out as first person.

I prefer third person as first person stories are heavily scrutinized by editors ... as they should be ... as they are difficult to write properly.

First person stories have a strong urgency with emotions and are extremely character driven. These are best for stories that have an emotionally complex hero, as they allow the reader to paint the inside of the character with a lot more depth. And this is why first person stories are so difficult to master, as they often lead into melodrama if the writer isn't careful. The focus on the hero is extremely tight, with the camera never turning away. Your hero must be very real and very interesting, or the story fails.

Third person offers more distance, allowing plot and emotion to balance out. With third person you must build the plot more as you do not have the immediacy you have in first person. Also, we all have watched movies and movies offer a third person perspective which we as writers become comfortable and familiar with. Therefore, third person is easier to write.

However, I think every author should take a stabv at several first person stories. In doing so, you learn a lot about drawing characters on the page and seeing through their eyes, and when you return to third person you have a much keener focus that allows you to better balance plot and emotion.

i always write in the 1st person
it's easier for me