What are your thoughts on 2nd person POV?
Do you like it? Why or why not?
Pros and cons?
Just pour out your thoughts on it!
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I think it’s difficult to use well; it can be awkward, vague, or pretentious if used incorrectly. It takes skill! However, if you are doing some sort of work that is a reader self-insert or is formatted as a character speaking to another (in a figurative-ish sense), it can be the right choice! It’s definitely the last form I go to, but I have seen it used well in poetry, songs, epistolary works, and choose your own adventure works.
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I personally don’t. It’s definitely a risk stylistically and I’ve never read a story told from 2nd person that I thought would’ve lost an element had it been told in first or third (whereas I’ve read stories from those POVs that I think wouldn’t have been as successful told otherwise). It’s difficult to write in a way that isn’t vague or off-putting.
I already have a combative brain when reading. Those statements that writers sometimes have narrators make to try and sound relatable (“We all do such and such” or “We’ve all been in X situation before”) are often met with my bully brain saying, “nuh uh!” So second person, where the writer is telling me what I’m doing in the story… it’s just a playground for my mind bully.
I think it’s a personal thing though. I’ve never been a fan of the Y/N fanfics or the choose your own adventure stories. It’s just not my thing.
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I have a love hate relationship with 2nd person. I like the have the reader being one of the main characters, in a way, but it can be hard to well because the reader could be almost anyone. At one point I thought about doing this 2nd person choose your adventure type semi short story because it gave the reader to be a main characters but can actually have choices in the story.
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