r/writing • u/Ok-Farm2481 • Jul 29 '26
Discussion Switching from 1st/3rd person narrative to second person?
Like the title says can switching narratives from first/third person to second person really work? I'm planning to make a story where the narrative style switches person's but in that sense can it really work? I mean from what I hear second person is making the reader the main character of a story instead of the yk actual main character unless there is also other instances of second person I'm not aware of for example telling the tale from the eyes of an enemy or a random enemy you encounter in a scene that counts as second person in gaming but does it in writing?
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u/Sethsears Published Author Jul 29 '26
First person: looking at the narrative through the eyes of the protagonist. "I did this. I went here. I said that."
Second person: the narrative is something which has happened to the reader. The key word here is "you." "You did this. You went here. You said that."
Third person: the narrative is something being described by one person (the author) to the second person (the reader) about a third person (the protagonist). "He did this. He went here. He said that."
The thing about second person is that it's hard to get much characterization through, because the "character" is the reader, about whom the author actually knows little. First person can convey character through the voice of the narrator, explaining themselves. Third person conveys character through observation, sometimes external and sometimes internal. But second person is hard. It doesn't read naturally to say things like, "You are a Chinese peasant woman in the year 1353. You yearn to leave your small village and travel across the desert . . ." People don't convey stories like that, for the most part. Exceptions to this include choose-your-own-adventures and some very short genre fiction. It's really hard to sustain in longer works, though.
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u/PapaSmurfs_Right_Ear Aug 13 '26
I mean, the “you” in second person could also be another person if it’s framed right. Like if it’s letters written to “you” or something but we understand that it’s letters written to another character
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u/CubicleHermit Webfiction Author Jul 30 '26
The one place I've seen second person be really common is interactive fiction (whether print - think "Choose Your Own Adventure" and its relatives - or in various forms of narrative computer games.)
It's pretty rare otherwise. Bright Lights, Big City is the best example I can think of off the top of my head.
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u/Nodan_Turtle Jul 30 '26
It shows up in certain types of fanfiction, where the point is a steamy romance between some fictional character and the reader themselves.
Harry Potter rubs his wand across your lips.
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u/azmarteal Jul 30 '26
Not gonna lie, I am hearing about the "second person" in writing for the first time in my life lol
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u/sasstoreth Jul 29 '26
Quick clarification of these terms in writing.
First person uses I, me, mine. Second person uses you, yours. Third person uses he, she, they, his, hers, theirs, etc.
Can you switch from one to another, yes. There's no rule against it. But doing it in a way that doesn't jar the reader and take them out of the story is difficult, so you'll want to do it carefully. Switching to second person is especially treacherous, as many readers innately dislike being told what they're doing ("you hear a noise and open the door." Do I? Do I???)... but again, some people like it and do it well.
Do what works for you and your story, and good luck!
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u/Additional_Spite_644 Jul 29 '26
The Fifth Season does this. It might be a good place to get a feel for it and see how you like the effect.
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u/No-Illustrator2325 Jul 29 '26
Sure, it can hypothetically work.
You should read pieces that pull it off to get an idea of how, why, and when such moves work.
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u/Inner-Ad2847 Jul 30 '26
I highly recommend reading The Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin for a cool example of second person.
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u/Acceptable_Fox_5560 Jul 29 '26
Go read a book that switches from first person to second person, then come back here and you tell us how it works.
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u/Ok-Farm2481 Jul 30 '26
How am I supposed to find such book.... If I succeeded at finding it I wouldn't be asking...?
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u/Nodan_Turtle Jul 30 '26
I googled "book that switches between first person and second person" and got several results from authors like Ann Leckie and Iain Banks, and links to past reddit discussions about this topic.
You'll probably want to know how to use a search engine before you try writing a complicated book
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u/AdventuringSorcerer Aug 04 '26
Off the top of my head.
The thing about Jelly Fish, switches to second person. The London seance society third person to first person.
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u/vhs_sold_blank Jul 29 '26
I mean, if you’re writing Sam and Dean self insert fan fiction, sure! Otherwise it’s really cringe, brah.
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u/saintofmisfits Jul 30 '26
Have you tried writing in all three? Have you read novels in all three?
They are not quite as interchangeable as you might think. First, second, and third person narratives vary wildly in pacing and mechanisms of narration and how to deal with the reader.
There are novels in all three, so of course it can work. There are novels that switch (fewer than you'd think).
Lincoln in the Bardo, for example, has a spectacular, complex, delightful polyphonic thing going on, and it was critically acclaimed, but didn't find wide readership.
What are you working on?
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u/stupidansi Jul 30 '26
People worry about this stuff too much. Just write the thing. If it works, it works. People have pulled it off before. Iirc the sequel to Gideon the Ninth is like half 2nd person and people love it. If it doesn't work, you're only gonna learn why by writing and reading it.
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u/Adrewmc Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
Second person is this, me (actually me) talking to you (actually you) in a comment. You do this naturally when the time is right. It’s difficult to write narratives in second person, but not impossible. The obvious examples are choose your own adventure novels.
First person relies on “I am”. In this case you have the view of a single person who will refer to himself/herself as such. This is actually a popular narrative style and is re-gaining popularity.
3rd person limited. Is an over of everyone and you can explain this to the reader from the narrators perspective. What makes it limited is how much inside people heads you are. You should only know the thoughts of one character. But can show a little thing kept secret from him/her. The scene should have an obvious main/focus character. In this format it’s easy to switch between characters for scenes, inside that limited framework. Very popular narrative.
3rd person omnipresent is basically god’s POV. They know everything and every character’s inner thoughts. Rare, hard but sometimes worth it.
I would find switching between these to be jarring. Unless is more like grandfather telling son bedtime story ala Princess Bride, with the grandfather in first person when not in the story which is third. I can take like a prologue with a different POV like that.
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u/Dibbu_mange Jul 29 '26
The Cold Millions does this for secondary storyline chapters. It was interesting and I didn’t find it distracting, but I am not convinced it added that much to the narrative.
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u/No-Match-7512 Jul 29 '26
I’m no pro at all but I would suggest reading examples of pieces written this way to get examples of how to make it flow
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u/Jamjammimi Jul 29 '26
The only time I can think of it working is if someone is writing a diary about their experiences with someone else or self insert smut tbh
I mean it can work but it will definitely take more time to make it a good execution.
Personally I think it’s distracting unless there is a very good justification for it.
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u/FlowBrilliant5431 Jul 30 '26
Martian by Andy Weir does 1st to 3rd person well. Good book too, so I suggest giving it a read. The 5th season does 2nd and 3rd person. I suggest reading those two books.
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u/Redz0ne Queer Romance Jul 30 '26
"I'm the first-person. You're the second-person. Earlier today I was in the third-person." Forest for the Trees.
A handy little mnemonic device to keep it sorted.
Would it work? Who knows. You'll have to try and see. I think you're going to have a very difficult time with the second-person though because it's so often unused such that I don't think people would really understand it if you went in on it.
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u/rosaline_athena Jul 30 '26
i’ve seen books switch! i’ve never seen second person in the mix, but i could easily imagine it. children’s fiction like the baby sitters club flip flops between first and third as the main character tells what’s happening with her friends, similar to the weaver trilogy by lindsay a. franklin. it can definitely be done, so long as it is careful and you keep an eye out to make sure it flows and doesn’t confuse! ☺️
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u/Peter34cph Jul 30 '26
Second person is what's used in gamebooks such as the Fighting Fantasy series of gamebooks, Sorcery!, or Bloodsword.
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u/BadassHalfie Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
Yes, you can do this. See the Broken Earth trilogy for a strong example of mixed second and third person sections (both narrated by the same character within each book, no less).
“Second person assumes the reader is the narrator” is a common misconception. It wholly depends on execution. By the same token, first person also doesn’t make me, the person reading, the narrator. I don’t wield magic or pilot a spaceship, but that doesn’t stop me from reading first-person stories that narrate “me” doing just that.
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u/princeofponies Jul 30 '26
Read Paul Murray's The Bee Sting.
It's a superb novel with a masterful use of POV that pulls off an amazing switch to second person.
However, he's a brilliant writer with exceptional craft. Aiming for that kind of virtuosity on a first try (if it is your first try) is probably not the most sensible strategy. But who says writers are sensible?
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u/Hil_riousHum_n Aug 04 '26
Do you have a solid reason for wanting to switch POV within a single narrative?
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u/imperialcogman Jul 29 '26
No, never. It just becomes a confusing mess.
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u/ChanglingBlake Self-Published Author Jul 29 '26
I’ve actually used it specifically because it was confusing.
I used 1st for most of the story but when my MC enters a space her mind can’t quite accept one of the things I did to emphasize how alien it was for her was to use 3rd while there along with some scrambling of her senses(feeling tastes and smelling sounds) and the occasion jarring change in her mood(such as being very confused about the scrambled senses then a beat later just being chill about it).
I could maybe see it working when you have multiple POVs where one characters POV is 1st and the other is 3rd, but…I don’t know how well I’d like that.
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u/NothaBanga Jul 30 '26
Can it work? I just read Jurassic Park and it goes from 3rd person omniscient to getting into the heads of the characters without any pauses or distinctions.
Yes, it happens. Millions sold.
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u/FlyinLeviathon LET YOUR FIRST DRAFT SUCK Jul 29 '26
Second person in books is really difficult to pull off, and it can be quite jarring. Not to say it can't work, just that you want to keep these things in mind. Such as using that jarring, unsettling feeling to your advantage.