Possible use cases for second person POV?

[TheWritingGroup]

Sure, but the story's still about an in-universe character, it's not personally about the reader, yeah? The character feels the things because that's the content of the story, whereas the reader might feel them if the storytelling has that effect on them.

My intent was to address the reader directly, not a character in a story. Which, I guess, makes it not a story that I was writing.

 

[fuckmehardandsoft]

Is that ever the case, though?

What is an example of a 2p piece where the addressee in the reader's position is not supposed to be a character and is supposed to personally be the reader?

It's not really my thing so I can't say I've read much, but I was thinking of that kind of self-insert story that was popular in fanfiction for a while like "You are kidnapped by Harry Styles" etc.

 

[fuckmehardandsoft]

I just saw that this was your first post here, so I hope you'll see my comment above as a bit of banter between fellow writers.

But I think my point stands: 2P POV is generally considered a big risk. Readers are likely to nope out after the first few lines, and the ones who finish your story will often express their hatred of 2P.

Where I can agree with you is if the story is written in 1P POV, but addressing a "you". In those stories, there's a clear narrator - the "I" - directly engaging with the reader, as the "you", or perhaps inviting the reader to place themselves in the position of the "you".

Done well, that style can be very engaging, but it can also feel like a "cheap choice", as you say. An easy was to engage the reader in a story that doesn't warrant the style, much like the current trend to use 1P present with different narrators. An epistolary is an example of where it's warranted, but it's not the only format where it works.

But however you look at it, any story that uses "you" will be viewed with suspicion and will face an uphill struggle from the very first paragraph to win the reader over.

Yeah - first person with the insertion of 2P at times is what I'm going for. I hear you.

 

[Britva415]

It's not really my thing so I can't say I've read much, but I was thinking of that kind of self-insert story that was popular in fanfiction for a while like "You are kidnapped by Harry Styles" etc.

Ah - kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure but without any choosing.

*shudder*