Why did you opt for the person (first/third/mixture) that you write your story in?
When I first started writing Supernatural Misadventures, I wrote it in third-person limited from Hailey's viewpoint. But as I wrote more, it just felt like it was too distant and it didn't feel right to me when I read it, so I changed it. I wanted Hailey to be my main character and also like my narrator. I like the idea of her telling the story as it unfolds and also interjecting some of her thoughts into it. I feel like first-person helps accomplish this. I also wanted to experiment with something a little different. I've written a couple of other stories (which are on hiatus) that are in third-person and I'm in the process of scrapping one of my other stories and turning it into something different and it will be third-person limited.
What do you think the main pros and cons of that approach are?
I think writing in first-person allows some more mystery in my story than if I wrote it in third-person. The reader gets to connect with my main character a little better than if I wrote it in third-person. I also like it because it's like the reader is right there with Hailey on her adventures and discovering clues as she finds them. Hailey is already an open person, so I had nothing really to hide from writing it in first-person. Her openness and honesty are also some of her flaws. She expects everyone else to be as open as her, so she overlooks things in people who aren't completely honest with her. I can hide character motivations this way because we are only seeing it the way Hailey sees it and she may miss things. I also have a lot going on behind the scenes and I don't want things revealed too quickly. If I was to include other viewpoints, like Ian's or Vern's, I would lose a lot of the mystery of what is going on. I also find first-person slightly easier for me to write in.
Some cons I've noticed are that it is harder to write descriptions of what is going on in the surroundings. When I write in third-person, I find that I am much more descriptive with the scene unfolding or the actions of other characters, but in first-person, I have to keep in mind how Hailey would see the scene unfolding and how she would describe it. I also think that first-person can be a little jarring to the reader if they aren't used to it. At least when I first started reading books in first-person, I didn't like it as much as third-person. But as I've read more, I like both ways of writing. Another thing is that sometimes I feel like I have to finagle my plot a little more, like if I want something to be revealed I have to make sure Hailey sees it or finds out about it, and sometimes this takes some manipulation on my part because I can't just switch to another character POV. This is part of the reason I used a different POV for the epilogue, so readers got to see things that Hailey missed, or wouldn't have been revealed with just her viewpoint.
Are you ever tempted to switch it up?
Sometimes, but for the most part, I enjoy writing from first-person in this story. I do like writing from the villains POV for the epilogue. I plan to do that in my current story as well, just because I like revealing things to the reader that wouldn't be revealed from just Hailey's POV, but I also don't want to reveal too much too soon.
Have you considered changing to someone else in an upcoming "season"? I know you've mentioned potentially doing a more Ian focused story/mini-spinoff?
I am planning an Ian POV for a short interlude right after this current story. It will be third-person because I don't want to reveal everything Ian is thinking and still want him to be somewhat of a mystery. I also think it will help with describing what is going on better than if I did first-person.