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*

 

[TheLobster]

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

*shudder*

Conclusion: 2P PoV makes every story into an R/NC story.

 

[StillStunned]

Of course that would actually be 1P, but you can get around that by instructing the reader to imagine someone sexy. "Your first crush. The one who got away. Can you picture her? Can you picture her naked? Can you picture her kneeling before you, mouth open, ready for your cock?"

Sometimes I hate my brain. I was just doodling away at an idea for a new story, and suddenly it says: "Hey! You could do it in 2P! Wasn't that what you posted just the other day?"

Dammit. It was going to be such a hot sex story too.

 

[BellaBestia]

I used it to middling success in my Story as a storytelling mechanism within the story. It was based on a bit of roleplay with a fella I had met online and it played out through texts, I just gave it a bit of a narrative structure. It was very hard keeping track and switching between 1st and 2nd and I lost my way a couple of times I’m sure. A fun experiment tho.

 

[SimonDoom]

Conclusion: 2P PoV makes every story into an R/NC story.

I like this idea. There's an element of truth to it. Example:

You strip naked for the tall, dark stranger, wanting him to take you.

Suddenly, you say, "I wouldn't do that on a first date. I hardly know this guy."

But you do, anyway, controlled as you are in the grip of a narrator who is merciless and will have you do things you would never do, all for the sake of a prurient story.

You protest. "Can somebody do something about this narrator? Hey, stop that!"

 

[anthrodisiac]

I like this idea. There's an element of truth to it. Example:

You strip naked for the tall, dark stranger, wanting him to take you.

Suddenly, you say, "I wouldn't do that on a first date. I hardly know this guy."

But you do, anyway, controlled as you are in the grip of a narrator who is merciless and will have you do things you would never do, all for the sake of a prurient story.

You protest. "Can somebody do something about this narrator? Hey, stop that!"

That entire segment was narrated in my head by Rod Serling.

 

[Britva415]

the Springsteen song "Night" is in 2P: "You get up every morning to the sound of the bell/You get to work late and the boss man's giving you hell..."

"You gotta fight for your right to Jeeerrrrr-seeeyyy!"

 

[fuckmehardandsoft]

I like this idea. There's an element of truth to it. Example:

You strip naked for the tall, dark stranger, wanting him to take you.

Suddenly, you say, "I wouldn't do that on a first date. I hardly know this guy."

But you do, anyway, controlled as you are in the grip of a narrator who is merciless and will have you do things you would never do, all for the sake of a prurient story.

You protest. "Can somebody do something about this narrator? Hey, stop that!"

This is a pretty fun gimmick for a story. You could start in 2P and then cut in with the "reader's" reluctant 1P. I don't like CNC so I won't be the one to do it, but jt would be a fun exercise!

 

[Britva415]

This is a pretty fun gimmick for a story. You could start in 2P and then cut in with the "reader's" reluctant 1P

I think you mean "two gimmicks"

and something got autocorrected to "fun" there, somehow, not sure what it was supposed to say

 

[StillStunned]

"...And you collapse onto the bed, the naked body of your hot colleague beneath you. You both gasp for breath, shivering in the afterglow of your climax.

"Does that sound familiar? Is that how it went with you and your skanky whore? Well, guess what? I've had enough. You can sleep at her place tonight, because you're not welcome at home. All communications from now on will go through my lawyer."

Dammit. This could have been an April Fool's story.