Thursday, April 19, 2012

second person

I tried to read a book recently which was written with a second-person
narrative. Wikipedia says, The second-person narrative is a narrative mode in which the protagonist or another main character is referred to by employment of second-person personal
pronouns and other kinds of addressing forms, for example the English second-person pronoun "you"
.

I say, it was super-annoying. Every time I read "you" it took me out of the story. I kept thinking, "Who you? Me? But I'm not a futuristic detective investigating a kinky murder and missing my hair-do appointment. Why did this author use second person?" Suffice to say, I couldn't stick it out and didn't finish the book.
Caveat Scriptor! As a writer, you should think carefully before you try using second person. Is it really what your story needs? If so, go for it! :)

Of course, there have been successful fictions written in second person. Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss (1990) comes to mind.

I must admit, I do like second person for blog entries. :)

How about you? Have you read or written any good second person?

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