What is "Writing in the second person"?

[BookNerd1177]

Writing in the first person is when you, the author, are telling the story from your viewpoint. Third person writing is when you, the author, are telling the story from someone else's viewpoint. So we go from first to third person, but what is second person? Is there such a thing? If so, what books are great examples of this viewpoint?

[Ryan]

Hi, Book Nerd!

Writing in the second person simply involves the writer appropriating the reader into the narrative, i.e. by using the pronoun "you". It's not very often used in novels because it can seem overly contrived if not handled with skill. It has a lot of potential in many respects, but it's not an easy mode to write in. Of course, perspective in novels can change. For example, if the main character in a story receives a long letter right at the beginning of the narrative, there is potential to either begin in the third person (as the receipt of the letter is described) and then switch to the second for the rest of the narrative as the main character reads the letter, or simply have the address at the top of the letter (to the main character) and begin and remain in the second person for the entirety of the narrative. So it has a lot of potential, but it has its disadvantages too. It really depends on the skill of the writer.

I'm afraid I don't know of any books that do this (or if I do I simply can't remember them now), but I think I'll have a look for one and give it a go

-- 25 Aug 2015, 17:56 --

Duplicated topic