Second person POV

[Colbey Frost]

I read that it's going to make a come back? How true do you think this is? And how can we employ this to our advantage?

I tried using second person for a short story today and it works okay, but I feel like I'm missing something? Maybe it's a lack of confidence because I'm trying something new. I don't know.

Does anyone have any experience they'd like to share using this POV?

 

[Dozmonic]

I don't really think it's particularly comfortable to read or write, except in adventure game book form.

 

[Colbey Frost]

I don't really think it's particularly comfortable to read or write, except in adventure game book form.

That's what I always thought, but if used in the correct way, I could see it being very powerful. It would have to be good enough to shake the stereotype of only being used for adventure books?

 

[Dozmonic]

I think, for me, it'd have to have the protagonist making sensible choices and ones that I would make. I don't like a lot of first person stuff because the protagonist is an idiot and doing stuff I wouldn't. An authoritative voice in second person really would have me putting the book down. It'd have to be seductive and enticing to stand a chance and I just don't see a lot of books that'd work in.

But then I'm awkward. If James Patterson did it the masses would think it was the best thing ever. He'd probably do it as an adventure game book in a very simplistic style...

A goddamn chopper is flying over your goddamn head. Turn to page 2.
It's goddamn loud goddamnit. Turn to page 3.
Goddamn. Turn to page 4.

 

[prizzley]

I've seen it work in short stories, but I can't imagine reading let alone writing a novel entirely in second person.

EDIT: PS What's happened to the font?
PPS Is it because I'm posting from my android? Apologies to the visually challenged.

 

[Nerds_feather]

My forthcoming short story is in 2nd person present.

And though it is harder to pull off in novel form, Bright Lights, Big City is an excellent example.

 

[Colbey Frost]

I think, for me, it'd have to have the protagonist making sensible choices and ones that I would make. I don't like a lot of first person stuff because the protagonist is an idiot and doing stuff I wouldn't. An authoritative voice in second person really would have me putting the book down. It'd have to be seductive and enticing to stand a chance and I just don't see a lot of books that'd work in.

But then I'm awkward.

Well, you're either going to identify with it or you're not, so it could be very hit and miss, but that's like all fiction... everyone is different, right? I don't think I'd use it for a book, just shorts, but you never know.

I've seen it work in short stories, but I can't imagine reading let alone writing a novel entirely in second person.

Yeah, I thought I'd use it for a short story first, see how it went.

My forthcoming short story is in 2nd person present.

And though it is harder to pull off in novel form, Bright Lights, Big City is an excellent example.

I'll have a look at that, cheers. Do you have a link to your short story?

 

[Fishbowl Helmet]

Yeah each one seems like it would be harder to do and slightly off-putting for the reader, but both at once sounds like asking for trouble. For me these definitely remind me of RPG books and Choose Your Own Adventure novels.

 

[Nerds_feather]

I'll have a look at that, cheers. Do you have a link to your short story?

Coming out in May. I'll definitely link it here.

 

[Colbey Frost]

Coming out in May. I'll definitely link it here.

Okay dokay. You could PM me a sample? Don't worry if you don't want to, I'm curious is all

 

[David Evil Overlord]

There's also Charles Stross' novel Halting State. There is a lot of online gaming stuff, and even online "real world" stuff (think of cops with Google glasses that show the cops the criminal records of people on the street in real time...)

 

[ZombieWife]

Dennis Lehane (Mystic River) has a great story in 2nd person called "Until Gwen." If done well, the 2nd person kind of falls into the background, but I feel strongly about a writer choosing it for a specific reason. If it's just a gimmick then it will read like a gimmick.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I think I would find it very distracting. If the author was writing about something I was supposedly doing, or had supposedly done, I'd be constantly arguing with the story and saying, "No, I wouldn't!"

The writing would have to be spectacularly good to pull me in to the extent that I'd forget all that.

 

[SleepyDormouse]

I was thinking the same thing Teresa, that I would find it hard to believe that I was doing the things the story said I was. Especially if the character I am supposed to have is drastically different to my own and making decisions I would never make.

It works in a "choose your own Adventure" type book because you make the decisions about what to do, though sometimes none of the choices would be my personal choice. (I only read one of these as a child and distinctly remember that I was always being eaten by a lion so gave up trying to find the happy ending!)

It only works if you allow yourself to become the person in the story, but then that defeats the point of the story being about you.

 

[Mr Orange]

i would be really interested to read an excerpt written like this because, like a lot of others, i just can't see how it would work.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

The only novel I've read where this was done was by Jeff VanderMeer. I think it was Veniss Underground - an amazing book, that I recommend. iirc the second-person stuff worked well, though, unsurprisingly, it was a bit of a shock to wade into it...

 

[ZombieWife]

While I understand why some people might think, "No, I would NOT DO THAT. Don't TELL ME WHAT I AM DOING," one has to realize that the 2nd person is NOT the narrator telling YOU what YOU are doing. It has the potential to be a very intimate POV. With 1st person, you are super close to a character. You are in his/her head.

In 2nd person, you're not only IN the character's head, but you are invited along for the ride--an opportunity to "walk a mile in this person's shoes." To feel what the character is feeling. Not just being "talked to" by a character who has something to say. It's a merging of storyteller and storytold.

I think what tends to turn people off the post is that it can be a very in-your-face POV. It can also be very conversational.

Again, I love a good 2nd person POV. But I need it to be done well. And I've seen it done well quite often.

Teaching creative writing, I always ask my students to write in 2nd person, just to get a feel for it. A very simple exercise is to create a "How To" list in 2nd person.

Junot Diaz's "How to Date a Brown Girl," is written in 2nd person directive. A great example of this. [ LINK ]

I suppose people can keep pushing up against the 2nd person, but it seems to me that you're only limiting yourself--especially in regard to how language and prose works and what effect this sort of approach can have on your own writing. I've had students open up completely after trying non-traditional POVs: 2nd person, 1st person plural, etc.

Honestly? The "I don't like being told what to do" reaction is one that comes from not understanding the POV and how it operates.

Again, if done poorly, you will lose the effect altogether and it will come across as a gimmick. When done well? Even a semi-educated reader will "get" what the author is trying to accomplish.

 

[alchemate]

I am not a personal fan of 2nd person pov, nor am I comfortable writing in it. But, I can offer up an idea to make it work. I think it would work best if you entered a world of machines that maybe have taken over the planet. Because the only element missing from 2nd person is the indiviudal character's thoughts, and machines have no thoughts. Or even in a story where a human is taken prisoner by the machines, so everything happening would be autonomous, like it's completely out of your control.

 

[Nerds_feather]

Okay dokay. You could PM me a sample? Don't worry if you don't want to, I'm curious is all

I've decided not to share it until the contract is signed, but it's just over a month from release anyways.

 

[sknox]

I have yet to read a 2nd person POV I could endure for more than a couple of pages. It is a contrivance, a kind of school exercise, just to show it can be done. Or, at least, that's how every example reads to me.

But why even ask? Just write your story! If you want second person, then write it that way. I've never understood why people ask ahead of time.

People who say "I've written a story, please read it" ... that, I get. I'll read it and if asked I'll be glad to let the author know what I thought of it. But asking what I think of it before it's even been written is like a painter asking me what I think of an idea he has for a painting. Or a musician telling me about a song he might write.