2nd person - present tense seems like a natural fit for erotica. Is it just too clunky to get published? Mind you I've just started reading some anthologies and web-zines to get a handle on this genre but of the four "best of" books I didn't see any 2nd person. Maybe there's a good reason for it?
Second Person POV
- Thread starter DeaconBlu
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It can work in an adult "Choose Your Own Adventure" novel, but it's pretty cumbersome otherwise.
Maryn, who sold a CYOA erotica story long, long ago
Maryn, who sold a CYOA erotica story long, long ago
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From what I understand, editors have seen so much really, really bad second-person erotica that their hackles rise at the first "you."
I can understand that, in theory, second person POV seems more personal, more intimate, in a genre that's banking on intimacy, but readers are perfectly used to stories told in first/third, and can make the necessary connections if the writer is doing her job well.
The other POVs (first/third) also have the advantage of allowing the reader to maintain whatever distance she needs. Especially in erotica, despite its subject, sometimes the reader doesn't necessarily WANT to be too bonded with the POV. To use a somewhat controversial topic -- rape fantasies exist, and there are erotic stories using that fantasy, and some readers may find them arousing, but may, nevertheless, not want to identify too completely with the character being raped. The reader may not want to be told "you" are being attacked even if, to some degree, she is identifying with the character being attacked. Sometimes a little distance is good.
JD
I can understand that, in theory, second person POV seems more personal, more intimate, in a genre that's banking on intimacy, but readers are perfectly used to stories told in first/third, and can make the necessary connections if the writer is doing her job well.
The other POVs (first/third) also have the advantage of allowing the reader to maintain whatever distance she needs. Especially in erotica, despite its subject, sometimes the reader doesn't necessarily WANT to be too bonded with the POV. To use a somewhat controversial topic -- rape fantasies exist, and there are erotic stories using that fantasy, and some readers may find them arousing, but may, nevertheless, not want to identify too completely with the character being raped. The reader may not want to be told "you" are being attacked even if, to some degree, she is identifying with the character being attacked. Sometimes a little distance is good.
JD
I thought as much. Way too clunky.
Maybe a new topic here but is there a trend toward 1st or 3rd, anyone notice? The anthologies I'm looking at seem to be a mix of POV's and some of them are quite dated. How does a story in 1995 get into a best of 2008 anyway? Thanks for any help on this.
Maybe a new topic here but is there a trend toward 1st or 3rd, anyone notice? The anthologies I'm looking at seem to be a mix of POV's and some of them are quite dated. How does a story in 1995 get into a best of 2008 anyway? Thanks for any help on this.
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I'm not a fan. It feels intrusive. I identify with a protag when I read but I don't become them....
Anthologies have different rules, most look for reprint from things published the previous year, but not all. It can just be what was submitted to them that year.
Anthologies have different rules, most look for reprint from things published the previous year, but not all. It can just be what was submitted to them that year.
I hate it and will reject any submission written in second person. And don't even get me started about people who submit second person POV to first-person POV themed anthologies. They get rejected without even being read.
I read a really good sci fi story written in 2nd POV a few months ago. It was in one of the Writers of the Future anthologies that come out quarterly. The form of it was a series of letters written from the clone of King Tut to the clone of Abraham Lincoln, and was superbly done.
This brings out a point that I've made a few times to people about writing in first person POV. When the narrator is telling the story they are a vbisible character in the story. The fact that they are writing (or telling) the story needs to be consistent with who they are as a character and consistent with the story, and the voice of the story needs to be consistent with the character of the narrator, as well. Otherwise it doesn't feel right.
This brings out a point that I've made a few times to people about writing in first person POV. When the narrator is telling the story they are a vbisible character in the story. The fact that they are writing (or telling) the story needs to be consistent with who they are as a character and consistent with the story, and the voice of the story needs to be consistent with the character of the narrator, as well. Otherwise it doesn't feel right.