Arch9CivilReactor
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- Dec 24, 2021
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I’m currently trying to work out the presentation of my novel. Which is ending up being pretty much a headache due to my intense desire to write in 2nd person. The only problem is that I’m unsure how chemistry would work using that.
The sequels of this story are given flexibility in the way the narrative is being told.
1. A god telling another god about their favourite human (1st to 3rd person perspective)
2. An omniscient narrator gaining sentience and possessing characters, thus experiencing their lives (3rd to 1st Person Perspective)
Both of them alternate between ‘I’ and ‘He’ because the narrator is always in control in how they are presenting a relationship. They are talking about a ‘story’ and are aware of it. This gives them liberties to present it how they want.
I’m unsure of how to do that in 2nd person perspective, where they are either turning the reader into a character, or are talking to someone who stands in for the reader. There is a blend in reader and character that’s not present in 1st person POV and 3rd person POV.
The narrator in a 1st person story is usually a character itself. Very person to that narrator.
The narrator in a 3rd person story is talking regarding other people and circumstances. An empty husk reflecting what’s happening in that world like a voice in a stage play.
2nd person does not do that. It refers directly to ‘you’ as a reader, and you are in this story by proxy. However, a lot of people don’t like this style of writing due to the nature of how using this in the long-term creates a ‘character’.
In a short story, you are usually giving the reader very understandable actions. They do not question if they’d act in that way or not since the blank canvas is being predictably normal. This allows them to bring the reader into the story for a short while to experience horrors themselves.
As I want to write a long novel using 2nd person perspective, I am currently considering how to keep my readers NOT part of the story while using the ‘you’ to refer to a named character in the story. They acting as the readers eyes.
Like how the narrator saying ‘You’ in a letter means the recipient specifically, and not any person reading the letter. A ‘dear person’ with their name starting off the story. This is an example of what I’m referring as my angle.
My current idea is to have an Alter Ego be narrating to second ego that drives the body. Both the narrator and the one experiencing the story are in the same body. Their fates being consistent… but I ran into a problem.
This current idea is based of the Visual Novel called ‘Slay The Princess’. It’s a steam game that is about an unnamed main character being told by a narrator to slay that princess. You know nothing early on other than this particular goal.
The narrator is heard in second person. The dialogue choices you can pick indicate that you can hear this narrator in second person. He is referring to ‘you’. A story that gradually becomes more clearer the more you progress in the game.
And just like that: I have already shown you how second person works in the previous two paragraphs.
I’m unsure of how to expand on my current idea and create chemistry. How to make it better. My current idea of alter egos within the head feels too limited. I like switching between different PoVs and there is no explanation yet that I can give about why an alter ego would be telling this story or why.
How would it move between characters?
Any ideas will help. Even if they sound obvious.
The sequels of this story are given flexibility in the way the narrative is being told.
1. A god telling another god about their favourite human (1st to 3rd person perspective)
2. An omniscient narrator gaining sentience and possessing characters, thus experiencing their lives (3rd to 1st Person Perspective)
Both of them alternate between ‘I’ and ‘He’ because the narrator is always in control in how they are presenting a relationship. They are talking about a ‘story’ and are aware of it. This gives them liberties to present it how they want.
I’m unsure of how to do that in 2nd person perspective, where they are either turning the reader into a character, or are talking to someone who stands in for the reader. There is a blend in reader and character that’s not present in 1st person POV and 3rd person POV.
The narrator in a 1st person story is usually a character itself. Very person to that narrator.
The narrator in a 3rd person story is talking regarding other people and circumstances. An empty husk reflecting what’s happening in that world like a voice in a stage play.
2nd person does not do that. It refers directly to ‘you’ as a reader, and you are in this story by proxy. However, a lot of people don’t like this style of writing due to the nature of how using this in the long-term creates a ‘character’.
In a short story, you are usually giving the reader very understandable actions. They do not question if they’d act in that way or not since the blank canvas is being predictably normal. This allows them to bring the reader into the story for a short while to experience horrors themselves.
As I want to write a long novel using 2nd person perspective, I am currently considering how to keep my readers NOT part of the story while using the ‘you’ to refer to a named character in the story. They acting as the readers eyes.
Like how the narrator saying ‘You’ in a letter means the recipient specifically, and not any person reading the letter. A ‘dear person’ with their name starting off the story. This is an example of what I’m referring as my angle.
My current idea is to have an Alter Ego be narrating to second ego that drives the body. Both the narrator and the one experiencing the story are in the same body. Their fates being consistent… but I ran into a problem.
This current idea is based of the Visual Novel called ‘Slay The Princess’. It’s a steam game that is about an unnamed main character being told by a narrator to slay that princess. You know nothing early on other than this particular goal.
The narrator is heard in second person. The dialogue choices you can pick indicate that you can hear this narrator in second person. He is referring to ‘you’. A story that gradually becomes more clearer the more you progress in the game.
And just like that: I have already shown you how second person works in the previous two paragraphs.
I’m unsure of how to expand on my current idea and create chemistry. How to make it better. My current idea of alter egos within the head feels too limited. I like switching between different PoVs and there is no explanation yet that I can give about why an alter ego would be telling this story or why.
How would it move between characters?
Any ideas will help. Even if they sound obvious.
