Second Person Perspective http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984 Webgoji I had an idea for an experimental short story that would use second person perspective as opposed to the conventional 1st or 3rd. In this story, I would recount the events from the perspective of the reader. I was kicking around a plot bunny of someone who is headed back to "paradise" and doesn't want to go back and wondering to myself why they wouldn't. That's when the 2nd person perspective struck me as possibly being viable because the readers themselves would be perplexed. I think it could really personalize the story for the readers, but have limited experience with 2nd person. (One of the few places I've experienced it was intermittently in "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern.) Has anyone had any experience writing in 2nd person or can point out some good prose using it? What are some of the downfalls or hurdles to overcome? (Nice to see them coming before I trip over them heheh.) Thank you for any input you may have! :) Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:44:24 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122281 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122281 keolah Second person isn't as outlandish or "experimental" as people seem to think. Sure, it's rarely used for prose... and it's the go-to perspective for interactive fiction since the earliest days. Anytime a game displays text, it will almost invariably be in second-person. And I don't just mean crap like World of Warcraft where most of the text is "You do 50 damage to the bunny!" or "Go bring me 40 bear rumps!" -- The video game Planescape: Torment was described by TV tropes as "one of the most brain-wreaking fantasy novels of the nineties that just happened to be released as a computer game." Games from Spiderweb Software, as another example, make up in text what they lack in graphics, generally opting to describe a new location in a wall of text rather than images. The main hurdle, however, is the difference in audience, and the fact that the audience for short stories seems to be idiotic and pedantic, and inclined to go "I am not! I did not!" when reading a second-person story, whereas a gamer would just go "Okay, that's cool" at the same text. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:12:57 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122306 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122306 lasalle202 theres several other threads where you may also find insight http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/10622 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/18648 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/19773 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/23986 (you can use the search to find more, i think) My thoughts are: "It might work for short fiction, but at the first time I hit a 'You <em>blah blah blah</em>' where I most certainly would NOT even remotely consider <em>blah blah blah</em>, the book gets tossed out the window never thought about again." Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:25:43 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122377 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122377 Aria617 Exactly this: My thoughts are: "It might work for short fiction, but at the first time I hit a 'You blah blah blah' where I most certainly would NOT even remotely consider blah blah blah, the book gets tossed out the window never thought about again." Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:45:34 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122411 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122411 larelmian Second-person is rarely seen in prose, except in instruction books and choose-your-own-adventures. (I had great fun with a choose-your-own segment last year. The MC died about twelve times too.) Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:49:57 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122537 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122537 lasalle202 [quote=keolah] Second person isn't as outlandish or "experimental" as people seem to think. [/quote] Can you provide a list of any second person fiction (other than choose your own adventures) that HASNT been described as "outlandish"/"experimental"/"cutting edge"/"fringe"/"pushing boundries" etc.? Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:59:21 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122571 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122571 keolah That quote is not meant to be taken out of context. Read the rest of the paragraph. I wasn't refering to standard prose to begin with. :P Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:21:12 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122634 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122634 RobertLent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-person_narrative There have been some works that use second person, but it isn't common. One of the problems is that with first or third person, I can accept that this character thinks, feels or does these actions, but when it is me, it is out of character. That doesn't mean it can't work, of course. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:41:33 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122676 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122676 RobertLent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-person_narrative There have been some works that use second person, but it isn't common. One of the problems is that with first or third person, I can accept that this character thinks, feels or does these actions, but when it is me, it is out of character. That doesn't mean it can't work, of course. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:09:27 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122721 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122721 Webgoji Thanks Lasalle! I'll check out those threads (when I ran a search I didn't come up with anything so thanks for finding them). And I agree, one of the things that's I'm struggling with is writing this so that the reader doesn't immediately think, "No way I would do X!" Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:03:57 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1123951 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1123951 keolah Either stick to purely description (kind of bland), make it clear from the start that "you" isn't literally the reader, or write it in an interactive fiction format. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:51:43 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124135 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124135 Gerd D. Hm, the only use of second person I thought to be brilliant use is a prose narrative to a short movie called Amoklove. So, yeah, I think it can be exceptional when used in short prose - but in a novel? I got my doubts about that. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:15:57 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1126109 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1126109 Marxist The best use of 2nd person that I've come across was one where a narrator was telling 'you' what will happen if 'you' become this particular man's next lover. I'm not a woman, but I can enjoy a story written to 'you' where 'you' is obviously a woman, because I like how the narrator has this sort of knowledge and authority over whoever might end up in her shoes. In this case, we are learning about the narrator and her own experiences. With your story idea, it seems like there might not be a narrator, per se, but I think it's still possible for you to use it appropriately. When the reader reads 'You' in the writing, they shouldn't be imagining their actual self in that time and place. It's more like an empty slot. The story is a hypothetical situation that gets played out. The character, when entering the story, is a regular Joe or Sue, and the decisions they make in the story should not depend on their personality, only because of what will (or would) happen to them is this particular narrative. That's why I think anyone writing 2nd person prose should also consider writing it in the future or conditional tense. To me, it makes 2nd person more consistent with its purpose. I have written part of a story in 2nd person, conditional. (i.e. You would go to...). The only hurdle I know of is that readers will question your reason for using it. I recently read a 2nd person story by Paul Auster in Granta mag, and I thought it was an awful decision on his part, completely unnecessary. Also, conditional gets difficult with complicated sentences, but it's a nice challenge. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:12:15 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1160713 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1160713 lasalle202 [quote=Marxist] The best use of 2nd person that I've come across was one where a narrator was telling 'you' what will happen if 'you' become this particular man's next lover.[/quote] Thats not actually "second person". Its third person narrative "breaking the fourth wall" and directly addressing the reader. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:45:07 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1162162 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49984?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1162162