How to decide between writing in first and 3rd person

[Ravenmore]

Hi all,I've been thinking of writing a book for sometime now. I have an idea stuck in my head that just won't go away, so I figure the only way I'll stop thinking about it is to get it out there. When I first conceived the idea I thought I'd write it in 3rd person, but I just finished reading The Hunger Games series and they are of course in first person. Just thought I'd throw it out there and see how you guys decide what tense to write in?

[GNTLGNT]

Whatever feels "right" to you...period....

[sam peebles]

Unless the story is very personal, either to you or a specific character in the book (who will be the only major character), or the first-person narrator provides a unique voice or perspective, I would stick to third person. It's harder to get inside the minds of multiple characters when writing in first person--for instance, first person could never have worked for such large, sweeping epics such as Lord of the Rings, It, or the Stand.

The only exception to this that I can think of is when the narrator is a minor character viewing all of the events of the story from a detached, outsider perspective. Fitzgerald does this in the Great Gatsby, and Straub does this often to greater of lesser degrees in Floating Dragon and Shadowland, and maybe Ghost Story (can't quite recall what POV Ghost story was written in).

But if your story is just going to specifically focus on one character, than I would say it's entirely up to what the writer wants and is comfortable with. You gave the Hunger Games as an example, and from what I remember, that book never deviates from the heroine's perspective (don't remember her name, but everything is basically seen through her eyes throughout the course of the novel).

[Sungrey]

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. A writing book I have implies that third person is the best for stories with multiple characters (such as "It" and most other SK books). I prefer third-person limited myself.