Hi Nola - I tend to agree that it's hard to pull of well. Using letters - as in Gilead - would give it a context.
But this has tweaked my memory as I think I wrote a flash fiction (750 words) in second person - a series of short messages or letters from the protag to the love interest.
The Oldest Song in the World by Sue Woolfe is also technically in second person - she starts by addressing the young man she was romantically interested in and the novel is basically her telling the story of what happened to him (probably in her head) though 'you' is used only in a few sections, so it doesn't become too intense.
Thanks for that Jenny. Yes it's hard to think of novels that use it all the way through, as they're pretty rare. I had to google them. But I like that last website I link to in my post, as it also gives some short stories. I picked up a couple of those anthologies at the library to have a read. Have already read 'Glimmer' by Ian Rankin - the 'you' is a journalist who's trying to write a feature article on the Rolling Stones in the late sixties, but ends up in his own downward spiral. Not exactly 'happy' stuff, but it was interesting to see how Rankin went about it.
Have you sent that flash fiction anywhere? Maybe I'll try it if another flash fiction comp comes up. Thanks for commenting :)
Hi Nola - I tend to agree that it's hard to pull of well. Using letters - as in Gilead - would give it a context.
But this has tweaked my memory as I think I wrote a flash fiction (750 words) in second person - a series of short messages or letters from the protag to the love interest.
The Oldest Song in the World by Sue Woolfe is also technically in second person - she starts by addressing the young man she was romantically interested in and the novel is basically her telling the story of what happened to him (probably in her head) though 'you' is used only in a few sections, so it doesn't become too intense.
Thanks for that Jenny. Yes it's hard to think of novels that use it all the way through, as they're pretty rare. I had to google them. But I like that last website I link to in my post, as it also gives some short stories. I picked up a couple of those anthologies at the library to have a read. Have already read 'Glimmer' by Ian Rankin -
the 'you' is a journalist who's trying to write a feature article on the Rolling Stones in the late sixties, but ends up in his own downward spiral. Not exactly 'happy' stuff, but it was interesting to see how Rankin went about it.
Have you sent that flash fiction anywhere? Maybe I'll try it if another flash fiction comp comes up. Thanks for commenting :)