They say second-person stories can't be done well. Anyone know any second-person stories that at least come close?

4700922 I've heard good things about For Whom We Are Hungry.

4700922 Just one. And of course, the story had to ruin it by being about Anon.

Man's Best Friend

There might be others out there (rare as they may be) but this is one I read.

4700922 Harms Way has a bunch of stories in second person view. They're Anon but in fact, I quite enjoy reading them based on the way its written and structured.

As much as I believe first or third person prevails in writing, second person view can be good sometimes depending how it's been laid out.

4700922 People hate 2nd person fiction because they can't be canon and they are designed to be open to interpretation. Some aren't well done but I like them.

My favorite fic, of all time is Scorched.

The author does several including one with Rainbow Dash called "Turbulence"

I normally don't go for raunchy stuff nor pony-human romance but I thought "To Tun a hundred miles in the heat" was well written and funny.

(Shameless self plug) I also wrote "Dragon King's Rebirth

4700922 Plus, we can't forget your Steam Collection can we?

4700922 It's really hard to get into a second-person fic unless you write it as one of those 'choose your own adventure' books, making it so the reader doesn't have to read the whole story but can still make choices for what THEY would do

4700922 No. I think it's functionally impossible. Perhaps a horror story or a mystery would work, theoretically, but I have never seen a second person fic done well. It forces a point of view on the reader, even more so than first person narration. First person narration traps the reader inside the narrator's head, but second person narration drags the reader along with actions he or she might not want. I would strongly encourage a novice writer not to use it at all.

4701066
Please remove the links to "To run a hundred miles in the heat" and "Dragon King's Rebirth."

For the former, it's a site rule that you aren't supposed to link directly to Mature rated stories in groups that are not marked as (nsfw). For the latter, self promotion isn't even allowed in the comment replies of The Writer's Group. Refer to this comment from the recent PSA thread for more information.

4701220 My bad.

4700922
To Love the Sun is the only one I know of. There are ways of doing it, but most of them involve tricks like To Love the Sun uses - namely, the narrator is really talking to themselves. A story where a character is talking to "you" can also work.

The main problem is agency. Saying it is "you" when you aren't making any of the choices for "you" is weird. It works better in interactive mediums, like in games.

For Whom We Are Hungry is a good story, but it doesn't make very good use of second person; it just is inoffensive.

4700922 I implore you to give this one a read. It is enormously well written, and even has a sequel coming out!

Regret

4701399 I read that one already. And you're right, it is fantastic!

4701403 GLORIOUS!

4701066

People hate 2nd person fiction because they can't be canon and they are designed to be open to interpretation.

Hmm? Some people don't like to make their own interpretations of a story? Eheh... I don't think I'm talking about just second person fic here.

As for successful second person fic, Choose Your Own Adventure fics can utilize it extremely well. Shoves you into the fic and you have to interact with it.

4700922

We had a discussion a while back that brought this up. Basically, it's a highly specialized perspective that combines features of first and third person: The point is that the reader identifies directly with the protagonist, but the narrator is distanced from the protagonist. In theory (at least as far as I understand it) this leaves the thoughts of the protagonist up to the reader's interpretation, making them more private.

I guess it can be done well if you really know what you're doing. I mean, I can't in good confidence claim it's impossible.

Here's the thread in case you want to read it.

4700922 I'm with 4701162 on this one, I just can't picture second person stories really working out well. They're just annoying to read, and I don't think that you can do anything with them that you can't do with 1st or lovely lovely third person.

4700922
I've read a few, but I don't recall any that stood out.

The issue with second person is that "you" usually comes across as an unnamed character to me, not actually a stand-in for me. The only way to make "you" fit with a broad audience is to either be incredibly vague in your description and characterization of "you" or to write sex. I don't think too many people are bothered by it in smutfics.

Most of the time, it comes across as a cheap ploy to get the audience invested and involved, at least to me. It doesn't work. It's a much easier stand-in for taking the time and effort to get the audience to care via good writing, interesting characters, and an intriguing plot.

4700922 I don't disagree that they are hard to pull off, but I can't agree they're impossible. I haven't read any second-person fics in MLP but I remember in a previous fandom I read one that I personally thought pulled it off; I still remember it several years later. Perhaps the difference was that the character was never a stand-in for the reader: they were most definitely a named character from the show, and I guess some would argue that defeats the purpose of second-person.

4701066

People hate 2nd person fiction because they can't be canon and they are designed to be open to interpretation.

2nd person fics are simply less common than 1st and 3rd, and for good reasons. In 2nd person fics is like the reader is led by a director that explains him what to do, think and feel. The narrative is not as flexible as in 3rd person fics, and the identification with the main character is not as immediate as in 1st person. Not to say that, for it's own nature, in 2nd person fics' text, tend to be a continuous alliteration of "you" and "your" that can easily become annoying, since, for the reader to get involved in the narration, the voice of the narrator must be "transparent" for his conscience.

But if the story is good, is good, even if narrates in 2nd person.

4700922

Depends on the reader, actually.

For me, pretty much any second-person story is teeth-grindingly awful... Because, well, I want to get up and punch the author in the face for ascribing the acts of abominable stupidity to me.

However, if you manage to find a second person story written by author smarter then you are, then it might prove to be an entertaining reading. Of course, finding an author who is smarter then you AND willing to write second-person stories is going to be complicated, if you were able to figure out how to post a new thread. (Yes, it`s sarcasm.)