Point of View

I apologize; this is a little bit English teacher-y.

Journaling is important to me. Whether writing a little or a lot, I want words to convey stories, along with pictures and product. Sometimes I think about which point of view I should write in.

A refresher:

• First person = I. (first person plural is "we.")
• Second person = you.
• Third person = he, she, it, they. No personal references.

What point of view do I use? It depends on the page.

• I use first person in pages about me. Or the family (we). So pages where I or my opinion is central, first person. Similarly, when I do event pages (what my family did), I say "we."
• I use second person when I want to address my subject (usually my boys). These pages are more personal, and I feel like talking to my sons on the page.
• I use third person for pages where it is not so personal, merely a record of what happened. I don't need to reference myself; I just write about what happened.

Here's a recent example:

This page I used third person for. Nothing personal, little emotion beyond happiness or pride, so I wrote in third person. (OK, there's a wee bit of "I." Hope that doesn't make me too self-centered!)

This page, however, is personal. My son failed at swimming for the first time, so I wanted to diminish the distance that comes with third person and speak/write directly to him, using second person. As a result, the page is more personal.

I'm standing down off my teacher soapbox now, but I hope that you feel comfortable now writing from various points of view!