Third or First Person.

Alright so I am having trouble with first and third person. So I've been writing in first person for a while, though not as much as I've been writing in third. I want to give a third a go again but I'm a little rusty. This is where you come in, here is a paragraph exampling both person's. Just choose the one which you prefer.

First Person:

Spoiler

“You stupid little pervert!” I looked up from the book I peered over and stared at my door. Outside of my room, I could hear the sounds of squabbling. I blinked furiously, what was happening out there? Before I could move, my door slammed back into the wall, dust crumbling off the wall where the handle hit.

Third Person:

Spoiler

“You stupid little pervert!” Baylee looked up from the book she peered over and stared at her door. Outside of her room, Baylee could hear the sounds of squabbling. She blinked furiously, what was happening out there? Before she could move, her door slammed back into the wall, dust crumbling off the wall where the handle hit.

Now both paragraphs are a little rusty but that's not what I am asking. Which one do you prefer? Just tell me that and I'll love you forever.

I guess this could also go into what exactly you want to reveal and when. I prefer first person myself as I use it the most often, but also because you can maintain a pretty good sense of mystery with it. With first person, as you probably already know, the reader only knows what the character knows and that could be very little. The true intentions of the antagonist is almost always unknown and they could be anything.

Third person, which I have also tried, could still maintain a mystery, but you are more free to reveal more to the reader in an unbiased way. With first person, the views will always be skewed by the character's views (my character, for example, hates a lot of people and everyone comes off as being unimportant to him or he continuously reveals why he hates them) but with third person, you don't need to do that. Sure, your character will think and you will reveal that, but yu can also reveal what others think of your character and so on.

There are pros and cons to each. First person tends to be more restrictive but more intimate in that you will always love the main character no matter what seeing that he/she is the only one you hear from. Third person is more free, but less intimate in that the reader, no matter how hard you try, will not love the main character as much because you are seeing the point of views from many others as well.

Both paragraphs sounded great to me, but I will put my vote in for first person because that is just my preferred choice. In the end, though, you will have to make the decision based on what your plan is for the story. Is there a mystery? Is it necessary to hear from other characters to get the full story (which is harder to pull off with first person without getting confusing)? I hope I didn't make the choice more confusing for you, but those are just my thoughts.

I would have to disagree. Generally, I think it is best to avoid first person. Unless used carefully, and to convey a specific tone, first person can be a disaster. If you use first person, chances are much greater that your main character will come off as a Mary Sue. I have read way too many stories where "I" is used by the writer because they actually think that they are the character (Ex:Twilight.) This can often lead to horrible one dimensional characters with perfect lives.

First person can work excellently, but you should have a good reason for why you want to use it. For example, using first person when writing from the perspective of a deranged and/or evil character can be quite effective. (Ex: Anything by Edgar Allan Poe).

In your case I would suggest using third person, especially because you use italics to convey the character's thoughts anyway. Because of your choice to use italics, the reader doesn't get any more information from the first person than they do from the third person version, therefore I would suggest using third person.