You You You

In a post last week I suggested you might find it interesting to try writing a short piece twice -- once in the first person (I) and once in the third person (he/she) in order to find out which you feel most comfortable with.

There is another option, one that is generally overlooked by all but the brave or the foolhardy (I think Jay MacInerney  tried it to dazzling effect in Bright Lights, Big City, but few dare to follow where he treads). You could try writing in the second person - you. 

It takes a bit of getting used to, both for the writer and for the reader and the effect is very particular, but it can be productively unsettling. A protagonist portrayed entirely in the second person can come across as someone extremely edgy and with a slightly skewed sense of themselves, potentially fertile territory if you are writing about a character who is dislocated or disturbed in some way.

Here's a quick example to demonstrate what I mean: You think you hear something and now you are irreversibly awake.   You can hear the creak of cartilage on bone as you turn your head and the sound seems catastrophic in the silent room. You sit up.  The breath catches in your throat...

You get the picture...Have a go at yourself; you might be surprised at the complicated but challenging places it may take you...