The Problem With YOU.
Updated: Dec 7, 2024
THIS IS AN EXCERPT ONLY
In my last post of 2021, I said I would blog over Christmas about using second person POV. I failed. I took a week off after ‘the big day’, watched Netflix with the kids, went to the Christmas market and took them ice skating in the town square. I totally ignored anything to do with work. And my golly did I feel better for it! During a pandemic, where getting away is just another headache, another task, it’s easy to forget that you can take downtime at home, too. It was great. So, late, but here:
The Troubles With Writing in Second Person POV and What You Can Do About It.
When I was just a mere newbie writer and had no editing experience to speak of, and back when I sought all the information I could on how to hone craft, it was a common opinion that you simply do not write in second person POV. No one really went into detail about why. It was one of those typical urban writer myths: you just don’t; publishers don’t like it.
One thing to understand with the ‘you’ form of narrative mode is that, unlike ‘I’ or ‘s/he’, it does not form a neutral voice for the story. Sometimes authors are aware of this, but most often they are not. Quite obliviously, they apply an emotional slant on the story that they never intended. Many times, I feel as if I’m being persecuted for something in the narrative while I read. Sometimes I feel that the story’s narrator is angry at me. Sometimes I feel 'you' is everywhere, to the point I almost can’t see the rest of the words.
So, let’s just break that down
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Invisible ‘You’.
There are other areas of second person narration to explore and many more reason why they are unsuccessful in fiction, but that’s all I’m talking about today. If you have any pieces written in second person and they are getting no traction, it might be that using this form of narration simply isn’t justified in order to execute the story. The word ‘you’ can be interpreted in so many ways, can leave the reader feeling so many things and can apply so many tones. It’s important to know what you want to achieve by using it and employing it with a clear intention in mind.
Tip: In giving feedback to other writers, try to avoid using second person in the critiques. It makes it sound much more like you wish to help rather than tell the writer what to do or -worse - make them feel as if they are being berated.
Are there any subjects you’d particularly like me to write about? If so, leave them in comments.
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