Do you try to remove yourself from your writing?

[lexirexic]

I'm not a writer, but this subject really interests me. If you write fiction, especially in 1st person, do you make any effort to remove your personal thoughts & opinions from your language? I guess there are two schools of thought where one method favors a lot of subjective, emotional language (example: Edgar Allan Poe "The Tell-tale Heart") while the other method tries to be objective, avoiding personal perspectives & leaving that up to the reader (example: any of the Sherlock Holmes stories where the narrator Watson is a mostly passive observer of Holmes).

What got me thinking was my recent Camus kick. I read in the introduction to his "Exile and the Kingdom" that he took great pains to remove himself, even though the stories reflect his personal views & autobiographical episodes in his life. In his book The Plague he addresses this noticeably with the narrator refusing to identify himself until the end of the book. I thought that was a really interesting touch.

Like I said, I'm not a writer; I'm actually an artist. But this issue comes up in all forms of self expression, I think. Some artists love to do self-portraits while others conspicuously avoid putting their lives on display. Songwriters also, notice how some lyrics are the "confessional" sort (Taylor Swift) while other lyricists never say the word "I" and instead write in 3rd person, or if they do write in 1st person it's an alternate personality (like Neil Peart, lyricist for Rush, writing futuristic allegories "Red Barchetta" and "2112").

Which type are you? Are you the central character in your works, or do you hide behind the curtain. Is it a conscious choice or does it naturally come out that way?