Writing Tips!

Why Write in Second Person?

This post was made by lillibetwritings on Tumblr, or http://lillibetwritings.tumblr.com/post/153450036487/why-write-in-second-person

enjoi as usual

Whenever I talk to people about second person writing, especially the people on my creative writing module at university, I am met with confusion. Second person narrative is one never really taught at school, one that isn't commonly used in novels, and one which for some reason has developed a bit of a stigma behind it. Second person uses the pronoun you, rather than I first person, and they in third person.

I personally think the people who don't understand writing in second person, don't understand it because chances are they've never written or read anything in second person before. As an avid fanfiction writer, I use second person constantly and am used to it.

I think the most common response is 'I'm not walking down the street, I'm sat at home!', or 'I don't feel sad, I'm actually quite happy!', or 'I don't have brown hair and blue eyes!'. This is an understandable first reaction, as most people reading second person feel as if the author is forcing them to feel a certain way, and they don't enjoy it. A lot of the feedback I've had from my writing group about my second person writing is that they couldn't engage with the story because they felt they were being forced to identify with a character they didn't identify with.

However, these people are looking at second person in the completely wrong way. In first and third person you can identify with a character in the sense you could relate to something they are feeling, or go through a similar experience to them. In second person though, the characters feelings and experiences become your feelings and experiences. The 'you' obviously isn't the specific reader, as that would be impossible. The idea is you put all reality aside while you read, and imagine you ARE the character in the book.

This is why it is the narrative used most commonly in fanfiction. It is a very engaging way to read. As readers want to immerse themselves in the universe being written about, if they can imagine they are a character in the story, it becomes a lot more realistic. In first and third person you can put yourself in someone's shoes, and watch their story as it unfolds, but you're not part of the story. In second person it becomes your story. Even if you have nothing in common with the character, if you imagine you are the character, those small details don't matter anymore.

So hopefully through this post you now understand second person narrative more, and see how it's an amazing narrative to use in writing. I was so tired of people judging second person writing and thinking it was pointless, so I wanted to spread the second person love!

Over and out,

Elizabeth