Point of view: What is second-person?

I’ve covered the different third-person points of view before on the blog – this time, I’m covering second-person point of view.

In fiction, the point of view of a narrative refers to who is narrating the story – whose “eyes” we experience the story through. In first-person point of view, for example, it’s straightforward, because we use the pronoun “I”:

I picked up my cup of tea and took a sip.
“What do you mean?” I said. I couldn’t believe he was telling me this now.
I couldn’t bring myself to speak, wondering instead when he’d become so cruel.

As you can see, in first-person, we see the story through the eyes of one character, who narrates things using “I”.

But what about second-person?

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosure here.

Second-person point of view defined

Second-person point of view is a very different way of narrating a story. Instead of using the pronoun “I”, as we would in first-person, or “he/she”, as we would in third-person, we’re using the pronoun you.

This makes second-person unusual because the narrator is describing what the reader is doing as if they are a part of the story. The reader steps into the shoes of the protagonist and becomes part of the story. Here are some examples of what this would look like:

You walked across the room, the chilly air misting your breath.
You grabbed him, fingers digging into his arm. You wouldn’t let go. You couldn’t.
“Excuse me?” you said.

For a more detailed example, look at this extract from the short story “The Haunted Mind” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (collected in the volume Twice-Told Tales):

You sink down and muffle your head in the clothes, shivering all the while, but less from bodily chill than the bare idea of a polar atmosphere. It is too cold even for the thoughts to venture abroad. You speculate on the luxury of wearing out a whole existence in bed, like an oyster in its shell, content with the sluggish ecstasy of inaction, and drowsily conscious of nothing but delicious warmth, such as you now feel again. Ah! that idea has brought a hideous one in its train.

Should you use second-person in your writing?

Whether or not you should use second-person depends on what your aims are in telling the story, and the genre/type of material you’re writing.

The downsides of using second-person

It’s important to mention that second-person has some downsides.

First, it’s an unpopular narrative choice, especially in novels. Some readers have even sworn off reading books or stories written in this perspective altogether.

Just take a look at some of these reviews for books written in second-person on the reader-review site Goodreads:

Many readers share these sentiments – it’s a risk worth considering if you’re thinking about writing in second-person.

Second, this point of view is hard to execute well even for accomplished writers. If you’d like to play around with it, writing shorter pieces first could help you to get used to the feel of this narrative point of view.

And finally, most stories don’t need to be told in this point of view anyway. For the majority of stories, third-person or first-person would be a better option.

When second-person point of view is effective

Second-person narration allows the reader to experience the story’s events as if they are happening to them, rather than following a separate central character. That’s what second-person is the most effective at: allowing the reader to take on a position in the story.

For that reason, second-person works perfectly for choose your own adventure books, especially those aimed at a younger audience.

Second-person can also be utilised in genres like horror or thriller, where a narrative is meant to unsettle or disturb the reader. This can provide a greater psychological impact, as readers might feel more directly manipulated by the story. There’s a deeper level of immersion and personal involvement – that can raise the reader’s sense of dread, and increase the suspense.

It can work for survival horror, psychological horror, or stories that play with ideas like memory and identity. But it’s not the best fit for every horror/thriller story, especially if the plot is complex or the story requires deeper character development.

Second-person point of view can often be more effective (or more well-received) in flash fiction or short stories, where readers are less prone to the fatigue of absorbing a second-person narrative. Over the course of a novel, it can be an exhausting point of view to read.

Examples of stories written in second-person point of view

If you’d like to get an even more in-depth feel for second-person, and how an author might approach using this narrative point of view in a longer text, try some of these books:

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (fantasy)
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin (contemporary/translated fiction)
Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney (literary fiction)
You by Caroline Kepnes (thriller)
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson (contemporary fiction)

And for shorter pieces, try these classic shorts, which are available to read for free online:

“The Night Wire” by H.F. Arnold (short horror story)
“The Haunted Mind” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (short horror story)

I hope this post helped you understand second-person, and decide whether or not you should use it in your own writing. If you’re looking for more detailed help with your story or novel, check out my editorial services.