Science of Writing III

As a writer you need to choose your Point of View. You should use particular points of view in particular situations.

First Person: Indicates personal experience, evaluation, and/or opinion.

Second Person: Instructs or Addresses the reader.

Third Person: Generalizes the experience or situation.

With few exceptions it is a good idea to write in 3rd person whenever possible. This way, you avoid shifting points of view and confusing the reader. Some fiction authors have made a quite successful effort of capturing a story in the First Person namely Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton , if you follow either link it will take you to an example book on Amazon; and personally I find First person very enjoyable when used by Horror Genre writers.

Here are some examples of the same passage written in the three different points of view.  Read them to understand the difference in tone and purpose borrowed from another website a while back, I'm afraid I can't provide a cite.

First Person, indicating a personal experience - "I have found increasing my workload is taxing on both my physical and mental health. Unless I am in a physically-intensive profession, my body is wasting away while I work.  Additionally, my diet has also suffered as I have spent more time at work.  No longer do I have the time to prepare healthy meals at home or even worse; I sometimes do not have time to eat at all."

Second Person, instructing the reader - "Increasing your workload is taxing on both your physical and mental health. Unless you are in a physically-intensive profession, your body is wasting away while you are working.  Additionally, your diet also suffers as you spend more time at work.  No longer [do you] have the time to prepare healthy meals at home or even worse, you may not have time to eat at all."

Third Person, addressing a general situation - "Increasing workloads tax both physical and mental health.  Unless a person is in a physically-intensive profession, a body will waste away with inactivity.  Additionally, diet suffers as more time is spent at work as people do not have the time to prepare healthy meals or, even worse, may not have time to eat at all."

You can see the difference in tone for yourself.