Open Discussion about a Reading Assignment - Guide for Amateur Writers of Erotica

I've just read this.

The Guide for Amateur Writers of Erotica
http://www.literotica.com/storyxs/stories/guide.shtml


A couple of questions on Perspective, for anyone to comment on, please.

I'd love to see an example of a story written in the 2nd person. Does anyone know of any easily available (readable online for preference)?

3rd person omniscient - where the author cannot lie to his reader. Why would he want to? Why would a reader accept it? If you can't trust the author, you can't suspend disbelief, and you'll constantly be checking the narrative for credibility.

3rd person fallible. I can accept that authors are fallible, but why write a story that is "mistaken" (see above)? The author must know this when he relates the story, even if he laboured under a misapprehension earlier. So what's the point? If it's to discover the "truth" later (which is what most stories do in the end, anyway) isn't it better just to tell it properly from the outset?

TYWD

Personally, I have trouble reading 2nd person perspective because it requires the reader to step into the identity of the protagonist. Usually, however, the protagonist has a very distinct personality that would make such virtual identification impossible. There are many authors who have tried this way as a gimmick (Tom Robbins and Jay McInerney for example) but the only online example I can think of is a short piece by Nathaniel Hawthorn called Haunted Mind.

There are some mystery stories that used 3rd person omniscient whereby the author would give the reader all they needed to know. However, the significance of the clues won't come together until the end of the work when the brilliant detective reveals everything. A good example is James Andersons Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy.

I wasn't familiar with the other two forms of 3rd person in the link. I've just heard of 3rd person limited. By telling a story from only one person's perspective you can suck the reader in and have them forget that truth is relative. The character can have their own agenda and/or bias and it isn't until there is interaction with other characters that we see the flaws. One of the finest examples of this is Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is a murder story told from 4 different perspectives and each time more is revealed.

Sorry that I couldn't give examples from erotica but my r/l bookshelves were easier to rifle through than the archives in the bdsmlibrary.

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Originally Posted by ThisYouWillDo

I've just read this.

The Guide for Amateur Writers of Erotica
http://www.literotica.com/storyxs/stories/guide.shtml


A couple of questions on Perspective, for anyone to comment on, please.

I'd love to see an example of a story written in the 2nd person. Does anyone know of any easily available (readable online for preference)?



TYWD

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I can't think of a story that's completely second person POV, offhand the easiest way I can think to use second person would be to write a story that is in the form of a private letter addressed to the only other character.
The 2nd person POV is quite rare usually only appearing as part of a story if at all.

Third person omnipotent and third person limited are the most common forms in fiction though first person can add some depth and intimacy to the narrating character. The drawback is the story is limited to that one characters perspective, but that in itself can be a major reason for the story.
Mad

Mad