First or Third Person?

I think one of the biggest struggles i'm facing right now is: third or first person!? I just really can't decide!! In all of the snippets i've written i've wrote in third person because i always wanted there to be an element of mystery about the protagonist, and about most of the other characters. The only thing is recently i've read some absolute great books in first person and it's made me feel much closer to the characters minds and therefore their thought processes. So now i'm thinking... Do i want to delve deep into the characters minds so it's obvious what they're intentions are, or do i leave that element of mystery, that slight resistance to their intentions? It's a tough one. I know i want to write from different characters perspectives, so perhaps that'd be helped if it were in the first person, so it's clear and not confusing for the reader? (i'm sure writers manage this in third too!) i'm just very torn between the two and i think the only way i'll get to my answer is to write in both and see which one seems to flow better and gives the character the justice they deserve.

Martha

What's this all about?

So, as you may have guessed, my name is Martha, and i'm writing a book... I've had this burning desire to put a story of a girl who i (recently) discovered name is Isla down onto paper since i was 16. 

How did this desire come about? 

Well, i struggled for a long time with falling asleep easily (as i'm sure most teenagers do) but instead of reaching for my phone i'd imagine scenes in films, and even books, that hadn't gone as i'd wanted them to. Here, i'd place Isla, and slowly i discovered a character that had a story of her own. It took me a long time to piece the story together, mainly because i wasn't focusing on writing a book, i was focusing on schoolwork, and now, university work, but that is exactly why i am here. I'm lucky enough to go to Newcastle University where i study English Literature, and for both my first and second years there (i'll be going into my third, and final year in September), i was able to chose modules that involved creative writing. During first year i didn't really evolve Isla's story, but i did put her into multiple different scenarios that will come to play during my novel, however, second year was very different. I had to come up with a complete synopsis of a novel along with a snippet from it. This, therefore, pushed me to think, what really is Isla's story? For so long i'd just put her into other people's stories, but then i realised, i did have a story for Isla, and i always had, i just hadn't put the two and two together. I hadn't put my alternative reality, my alternative world with hers, and i'm not sure why as they really are one of the same.

So, here i am, documenting my thoughts and all other pieces of info i feel like i should share while i embark on what will probably feel at times like a never ending journey of writing a book (is it book or novel? i just don't know!). It's not something that's going to be written in the style of a writer in the sense that i don't want it to be formal - at all!!! And it'll probably be full of spelling mistakes, punctuation errors and all sorts of wrongness but this isn't an advertisement for my book (or novel?!), it's just me, Martha, a (just turned) 20 year old girl documenting her thoughts.

I hope you enjoy my journey.