Second person POV

[Colbey Frost]

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.

So you didn't read my post then? Haha.

Thanks everyone else for getting involved. This was supposed to be an open discussion on second person and less about me. I felt like it needed some air time I've grown to like it and may well use it again, but the story has to fit so it doesn't read like a gimmick. People need to be more open minded to the idea that's for sure!

 

[The Storyteller]

I have actually written in this POV and really enjoyed it, though it wasn't an actual novel. It was a present for my Dad actually; he loves board games and I love writing, so I wrote him an adventure in which story pages led him from game to game, and the results of the game determined how the story unfolded. This of course is a lot closer to a 'choose your adventure' style, but it did lead me to ponder if it could be worked for an actual novel.

I think the biggest thing is you would need to know your audience and cater to them. The great thing about my present is I knew exactly who I was writing for and could tailor the story accordingly. Seeing as you would be writing for an audience and not a single person, you would have to choose a character that a lot of people would be interested in and relate to, or someone that it would be exciting to 'become'.

I think there is potential for a novel using this POV, but it would have to be carefully handled, and you would have to give it a very different approach to 1st or 3rd POV. It probably would work best in an interactive story setting, but it shouldn't need to be restricted for that. I both enjoyed writing and rereading the adventure I wrote for my dad, to the extent I would seriously consider giving this a go one day myself!