First Person V.S Third Person

I write in first person. To me, it just makes sense to do that. It is so much easier to convey thoughts and actions of your protagonist. Their is no doubt who is your protagonist, who is your side kick (I'm sure there is a more technical term for a side kick other than side kick.) But back to the point, first person allows you to connect and get more personal. For instance:

Three days now. They had been on the island for three days. I set down my heavy pack, allowing myself a sip of the precious water. I felt like crying, the strain of it all, the heat, the lack of food. The feeling of abandonment. Everyone in the group, including Kat was tired out and worn from the long march to the safe side of the island. Personally, I thought when we reached the "safe" side of the island, it would be just as dangerous there as it was here. The sand would still burn your skin, the trees would give out disastrous amounts of carbon dioxide, and the rain would still be as acid as ever.
"Move along, Selene!" I heard Kat say, and hoisted my pack onto my aching shoulders and tagged after the ragged group.

Or:

Three days now. They had been on the island for three days. Selene set down her heavy pack, allowing herself a sip of the precious water. She felt like crying, the strain fo it all, the heat, the lack of food. The feeling of abandonment. Everyone else in the group, including Kat, was tired and worn from the long march to the safe side of the island. Personally, Selene thought that when they reached teh "safe" side of the island, it would be just as dangerous there as it was here. The sand would still burn your skin, the trees would give off disastrous amounts of carbon dioxide, and the rain would still be as acid as ever.
"Move along, Selene!" Selene heard Kat say, and she hoisted her pack onto her aching shoulders and tagged after the ragged group.

You see how the first person made more sense in this kind of paragraph, specially added to convey emotions. Of course, third person made sense, and you could alter it some to fit your needs, but the emotions were more distant compared to the first person paragraph.

Books Written in First Person
-Double Vision by F.T. Bradley
-Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
-Red Blazer Girls by Dr. Beil
-Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher
-Report Card by Andrew Clements
-War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

The Downers to First Person
Unfortunately, you can only convey one person's emotions and thoughts: those of your protagonist. What if you wanted to show that your side kick is mad, but doesn't show it, how will you make your reader see he is mad? You could switch who you is talking (Change the side kick to first person for a while) but that is confusing and un-original. You could just ignore it, but were would your story be? Remember, writing is about emotions. You just have to somehow make your character see that the other person is angry, or have them tell your protagonist later on in the book. Of course with the later you risk your reader not remembering...

Third Person
Third person is for me more difficult. (On Seven Days, I caught myself putting in "I's" instead of "Clara.")  The good thing about third person is it opens your horizen to other characters, like you side kicks. Third person also allows you to notice little things, like what other characters are doing. For instance:

Selene tended to the dying flames while rallying the camera crew together. "I know we've been lost for a month now, but don't lose hope." Charlie groaned, tossing more sticks in the fire for the flames to eat.
"Face it, Selene, we're never going to leave." Selene and Charlie were quarreling now, both forgetting the fire. Cole and Jessie were silent, still preparing their meager portions of dinner: Chicken and a few green leaves Kat had found. Kat yanked back her tent's flap, intervening the two.
"Enough!" She yelled, stooping to exit her tent.

See how Selene was the main character, but you could see how many other characters were doing different things. You still were focused on Selene and Charlie, but you saw how the other crew members responded to the fight. Cole and Jessie were cooking, and Kat was apparently sleeping. You could show what others were doing without leaving your main character. (Selene)

I tended to the dying flames while rallying the crew together. "I know we've been lost for a month now, but don't lose hope." Charlie groaned, tossing in more sticks in the fire for the flames to eat.
"Face it, Selene, we're never going to leave." Charlie and I were now full on fighting. I noticed Cole and Jessie were still preparing the dinner, and Kat was lifting her tent's flap.
"Enough!" She yelled, stooping to exit her tent.

You can see how this one was badly expressed compared to the third person paragraph.( If you want to convey a fight seen while focusing on others, make your main character watch for a while, describing what she/he sees and others are doing, then make she/he intervene if they need to after you have shown all you needed to. Just a bit of a tip that works for me.)

Books Written in Third Person
-Eragon by Christopher Paolini
-Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
-The City of Ember by Jeanne DePrau
-The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

The Downers to Third Person
Third person doesn't give the prominent feeling of a close relationship between the reader and the protagonist. It makes the reader feel as if she's there watching them, but can do nothing. With first person, it makes the reader feel like she would say those sort of thing that the protagonist is doing. First person allows you to connect better. For instance, in Double Vision,(First person) Linc goes into a bakery where he is followed in by the evil Benjamin Green. When Green tells him that he told Linc not to go to the bakery, he replies, "Well, you're not the boss of me." He says to himself after saying that, "Way to sound mature, Linc." That is exactly how I would have responded! :) (I'd like to say I had to look that scene up, but I had that one memorized by heart. I laughed my head off because I can picture myself in that exact dilemma and saying something less than, uh, mature. :))

Third person is harder to show who's who. For instance, if you want Charlie to be your main charcter later in the book, but you focus on Selene in the first bit, they will wonder who actually is the protagonist. With first person, you could simply divide the book in to parts, and switch who "I" is refering to. With second person, you may have a hard time doing that. I'm not saying it's impossible....if you are a good author both should be relatively easy for you.

Please remember, this is all a matter of opinion. I prefer to write in first person, but that doesn't mean third person is bad. In fact, most of the books I like are in third person. It is completely a matter of opinion.

In fact, I like to practice using both. (Click here for my pitiful attempt at third person)

Happy Writing!
J.M