Opinions #1 - Second Person Perspective Stories · 1:23am Jan 13th, 2016
Soaring's opinion on...
Second Person Perspective Stories
New Blog series. Yeah. My opinions. People like to see other people's perspectives sometimes, so I'll be that guy to deliver some unpopular or popular opinions (I'm not sure if they are to be honest, they're just mine). So, let's get into today's topic, which is Second Person Perspective stories, which I see now as unfavorable. Why?
Simply this: a second person perspective story wants to focus you, the character, as a character that has specific qualities and decision-making. This does not really work well because if the author makes your character an asshat with thirty different toy replicas of guns, then you probably won't be doing any killing or looking like a true respectable maggot. Instead, you're going to look stupid and used as comedy relief for a story. Sounds wrong, doesn't it? I know I wouldn't want to look stupid. In fact, why don't we just take the character that was created and give it a name? Then no one will look stupid except the character!
That's why second person stories do not work very well. An author can't force qualities and characteristics that does not represent the person who is reading the story, nor could an author make decisions that do not reflect the reader's own decision-making. If an author does this, that means they are creating a whole new character entirely. That's identity theft.
So yeah, it's not just the feeling, as most readers would like to proclaim. It's a whole different spectrum of content related issues that create bubbles of problems for reader relatability and interest, I mean, I wouldn't want to be labeled as a pervert of horses or an alcoholic when I don't grab horses asses or drink beer regularly. That kills my interest in the "me" that is being written.
But the opinion does not end there. If I can't relate to it, does that mean other people can't too?
Well, no. Some may grab horse ass more than the average human being. You never know. Others may just grab ass in general in the worst places of all time. Like the subway or a church! Maybe some readers drink beer a lot!
>Y'know where this is going?<
If you're going to write second person, there needs to be some sort of impact. Why does "grabbing asses" need to be highlighted? Well, you never know when a man grabs an ass for sale (we're talking donkeys now guys and gals) off the market and needs the ass to travel across the desert or something. Or maybes it's someone's fetish (if it is, that's not sexual abuse or anything), I don't know. There's need to be an impact, and whether it's to communicate proper holding techniques or how to fight off an abuser or "possible rapist", or in terms of the alcoholic example, fighting alcoholism or proclaiming the message that alcohol is an ice-breaker instead of a spectacle does not matter. As long as there's something there to gain, then readers will flock to it, no matter how inappropriate it is. And honestly, that's why a lot of second person stories are not for me. In this fandom, most of them are:
1. Wish fulfillment.
OR
2. Not wish fulfillment but instead true depictions of the author.
But let's not forget that there are some stories in second person that take the word "you" and make it a character itself. Instead of you being "you", you are not a character. You itself is a character. That's when I see magic. You rarely see it those in this fandom, but when it happens, someone needs to take a camera and take a picture. It's great, honest. And no, Anon is not "you" here. You is only you.
So there you go. Lot's of words about second person stories. Most part, they're not too good. But the gold mine is within the ones that make "you" a character. Not you, as in the reader, but you as a character without it being the reader. Also good second person stories give impact and relatability. If those are not present, then it's wish fulfillment or true depictions of the author.
You may wholeheartedly disagree with me in the comments section if you want. Just something that I thought about when reflecting on A Chance of Fire. Then I remember the days when it was in second person and when "Chance" was...
Let's not put "murder" on blast.
-Soaring
It is a fair point, I mean, one of my favorite examples I love bringing up whenever someone talks about this: Once read a story where it said "You have always played the Violin" and I'm just like "No I haven't, I've played the Viola." :P
Still, good article, can't wait to see what you got going in the future :)
And on an off related note, I think this kind of thing works best in games, where the player is allowed to sort of role play there character better, and make them THERE character.
I think it's something closer to:
To quoth the poet.
Yeah, though there are some interesting ones out there.
For instance, I forgot what this series was called, but it has the second person format. However, the second person actually has a face, and he's describing all of the shenanigans his friend gets into.
In a second person story, "you" is just whatever the author wants them to be. There will never be a truly relatable story in the second perspective. It's just impossible.