Pointers for Story Lines

Going Through The Second Person

Definition:

You. Your. Yours.

Its all about 'you'.That's the fundamental pronoun used in second person perspective, and sometimes, 'we' is also used. Second person POV generally refers to a letter-like narration. It feels like you are reading a letter, in the form of a story. The story looks like its being told about you, to you. (Or in simple words, it feels like you are snooping into a letter meant for someone else, if you want you see it that way.)

Example:

"I saw you sitting in the café, fiddling with your coffee mug, the steam had long stopped swirling out of it's seams. You kept staring at the wet yellow raincoat draped beside your seat, and I kept staring at the most intriguing person I had seen that day: You. Your wild black hair contrasted with your lilac sweater and there was a grim scowl on your face. A woman asked you if the seat beside you was taken, but you didn't even look at her. She raised her volume and you jolted awake from what I guessed was a daydream, or a worrisome thought. I wondered what must be going on in that unique mind as I watched you slowly turn your head in my direction and give me a sweet, nervous smile."

See? Second person perspective feels a little queasy. You know you don't own a yellow raincoat ( or you might ), and neither were you scowling at your coffee in a café or throwing smiles at a possible stalker. It feels like you are seeing someone through the narrator's eyes, whom the narrator is referring to as 'you'. Anyways, unless its a sheer coincidence, the narrator seems to be lying at your face.

Not that its a bad thing.

On a serious note, second person POV is the least used POV of the three. But it has some perks that most people are not aware of.

Pros:

- It has an ability to transport you into an intimate set-up. Like first person, this too is from the eyes of the narrator, but in first person POV, he sees the whole world, while in second person, he sees only one person that he likes to call 'you'. This makes the story sound very intimate.

- In second person, a character is seen by the readers for how the world sees her/him, not who she/he really is. This makes the scope for great unexpected plot twists.

-As said before, second person POV is the most 'intimate' POV of the three. You have a constant nagging feeling that you are reading something you are not supposed to- a personal letter meant for a stranger. This is something which you can bank on, in case you are dealing with a romance.

-I personally think that romance suits this POV very well. You get to see the other person's reaction without knowing her/his feelings, creating an unbearable tension, which you can work in your favor. But of course, you can experiment this on other genres too.

Now let me show you an example of how we can get this right:

"You walk into the bookstore and you keep your hand on the door to make sure it doesn't slam. You smile, embarrassed to be a nice girl, and your nails are bare and your V-neck sweater is beige and it's impossible to know if you're wearing a bra but I don't think that you are. You're so clean that you're dirty and you murmur your first word to me—hello—when most people would just pass by, but not you, in your loose pink jeans, a pink spun from Charlotte's Web and where did you come from?

You are classic and compact, my own little Natalie Portman circa the end of the movie Closer, when she's fresh-faced and done with the bad British guys and going home to America. You've come home to me, delivered at last, on a Tuesday, 10:06a.m. Every day I commute to this shop on the Lower East Side from my place in Bed-Stuy. Every day I close up without finding anyone like you. Look at you, born into my world today."

- 'You'  by Caroline Kepnes

This is the opening paragraph from the book 'You' by Caroline Kepnes. From reading it, you get a feeling that it must be from a part later in the story. But its not. This is how Kepnes portrayed 'obsession'. And guess what? Its not a romance. Its a thriller, and well, its one of the best that I have read this year. Since it deals with the nature of stalker-obsession, second person POV becomes it like hand to a glove.

But, when there are pros, the cons aren't much far way.

Cons:

-You cant see anything or describe anyone more often than the supposed 'you'. This person whom the narrator is watching, becomes the focal point of the story, leaving out the possibility of side characters.

-Seeing what's on the outside, gives you the same opinion of this 'you', as the narrator. If the narrator thinks that 'you axed into the boy's arm, blood splattering on your shirt. You looked like a goddess', then you have nothing to do, but go with it. If the narrator think that 'she is a goddess', then that speaks more about the narrator, than of 'you' or the subject- because its a terrible thing, and it doesn't affect the narrator in that way as it affected the readers. So, if used correctly, it can work in your favor and mold a character out of the narrator, instead of the subject. But, nevertheless its a very tricky thing to do.

-It is a very narrow POV, so to say. You don't get to experience much, except the daily drama in 'you's life. Its more like a stalker pov. ( unless you manage to redefine it)

-The pronoun, you, itself is a very personal one. That's because its addressed to you, the reader. In some cases, since readers are not used to such kind of direct narration, he/she might not prefer reading it.

Common mistakes you can avoid:

-Try to insert short phrases about the life happening around the focal subject (you), consisting of descriptions, side characters, etc to avoid making it monotonous.

-Do not use 'you' too much in a paragraph. Balance it out by describing the other things happing around "you's" life. I have used the word 'you' so much in this chapter, that its beginning to irritate you. Imagine reading a whole 200 page story about it. I hope you understand what I'm saying. Balance is the key.

-Don't be wary of using this perspective. Most authors are usually afraid of writing in second person ( I'm one of them) because it can be tricky. But you never know, maybe that's the perspective you write best in. You'll never know if you never try.

This whole book is also in second person. So well, how did we fare? ;)

If you have any queries, feel free to ask away in the comments below. We'll be happy to help you out. Hope your New Year started on a good note.

~Ana & Deb 

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