I’ve seen in many stories and I have noticed two types of narrations. I myself am way too comfortable writing both and can’t choose one, so I’d like to know what majority of the readers like.
Narration 1
I run down the stairs grabbing my purse to attack her my one in a million bff, only to see her smiling wide and standing next to him, giggling. He bites his lip while scratching his neck and looking at my-- Gosh I totally didn’t notice myself wearing my lace underwear and a bit too revealing creamy bra.
Narration 2
You run down the stairs grabbing your purse to attack her your one in a million bff with, only to see her smiling wide and standing next to him, giggling. He bites his lip while scratching his neck and looking at your-- Gosh you totally didn’t notice yourself wearing your lace underwear and a bit too revealing creamy bra.
Please don’t ignore
Narration 1
Narration 2
Give us the option of choosing the narration in the story.
0voters
Also lmk what do you think about the narration scene above, and give me some tips to improve my writing.
Writing down below the narration you like with arguments in it’s favour will be helpful too
If u use things like ‘I’ it helps readers connect to your story more whereas if u use ‘you’ it makes readers disconnect from the story and it makes it harder for the reader to imagine themselves as the mc (:
Wow! Pretty sure I’m the only one who voted for narration 2!!
Idk, something about reading it from a “you” perspective instead of “I” just hits me differently. I can’t really explain it. I feel like it just makes my reading experience better. Using “you” instead of “I” adds an aura of mystery, and works really well if you’re telling a story where the MC is actually the problem but you don’t want the reader to know it.
It also reminds me of the old classic stories from years ago where all the narration used “you” instead of “I”, so maybe that’s part of why I love it so much lol
Tbh, when it comes to episode stories where the character is supposed to be “us”, I prefer the narration to be ‘you’. It makes me feel more immersed as the character, making my own choices and being my own person, as opposed to ‘I’.
However, any other form of storytelling (like a book or novel), second person narrative is appalling to me
omg yea second-person narrative reminds me of those old-school dnd-text story games (i still play them sometimes lol). That’s probably why i love the “you” POVs so much in games where we make our own choices. It’s more immersive for me, and gives off a mysterious type vibe
If the character is customizable and it’s YOU story then, yeah, second-person narration is best. If you aren’t playing as yourself then 1st person narration is fine.
I’m so sorry; this is longgg. I don’t know how to write a concise response
Summary
I also use “you” when referencing the MC. I guess they both have a sort of interactivity to them; but to me “you” has much more of a command on the reader. It’s weird for me to read “I” in reference to myself when it’s something I myself haven’t written. I think first-person “I” works in physical novels because most of the time, the author has created a character separate from the reader; but on Episode, 90% of people like to play as themselves.
I really enjoy narration because it gives me a chance to push emotion that much further, but I try to use it sparingly as visuals come first. Because of this, unless it is a very prominent or exciting detail, I wouldn’t describe “just” the action that’s taking place. (Does that make sense? Lol, probably not.) Leave it to zooms, pans, etc. to convey all that. In a visual story-telling app, you don’t need narration to set the scene, but you can use it to enhance the scene.
So, in your example (#2 because again that’s how I write), because what you are describing is probably the exact same thing you’re showing, I would do either two things: space out the narration or describe another aspect of the scene.
What I mean by spacing out the narration is kind of going back and forth between showing and telling. Maybe you have a shot of the MC running down the hall leading to a quick shot of her grabbing her purse then they turn around, pause, and assume some startled animation. Now you could do some narration. The way I’m picturing this scene in my head, I think it would be a good time to describe the character’s body language, not just their actions. Cut to the bff. Is she mischievous? Did she calculate this scene? Maybe she’s smirking like a languid cat who’s found its prey paralyzed. Or perhaps she perks up at the sight of you, pleased with the position you’ve found yourself it. Now cut to the guy. If this character is supposed to be attracted to the MC, describe some of the more subtle ways they show it. Does he shift his body to face you? Do his pupils enlarge (not double in size…)? Does he have any other established tells? All in all, a few similies never hurt anybody ;p
What I mean by describing another aspect of the scene is drawing the reader away from what they’re seeing to give a new context/perspective to the shot. This is what a lot of episode narration does, just seldom very well. In your example, while you are revealing the scene to the reader, describe a third party that we cannot see. You could add a short, one-off joke or run the reader through the MC’s thought process as it becomes clear to them what position they are in.
After that part’s done, cut back to the full body mc, then their outfit, and then their embarrassed face: in three shots, we see them coming to the realization that they’re exposed (and more effectively than narration probably would have done it). Other than that, I liked the way you trailed off halfway through in your version. I’ll do that often too so it’s as if the reader is experiencing these emotions alongside the character. Of course, this is my personal preference, and I do only tend to read a certain niche of stories. Still, I think the sentiment applies across all books.
@Aria901@YourMom@KylieJay Thankyou for your opinion,
I didn’t know this many people liked second person narration. I guess the option of choosing the narration sounds good here.
I can’t deny that, I was super used to first person narration,but then I read some chapters of my favourite author and she wrote it in first second person narration, I hated it at first but then after a few chapters later I got used to it and now I don’t mind whether it’s first person narration or second person, I like them both And no that wasn’t rude at all, every person has their own opinions.
I’m used to the 1st person POV, but I’ve read stories where 2nd and 3rd person POVs are used instead and are written well. While I love 1st person POVs, I actually don’t think there are enough stories on the app that use 2nd and 3rd person.
I like using “I” or even the character’s name = “I swam across the ocean and managed to make it to land, miraculously not being attacked by any shark” or even “Lamp floated across the ocean and his expression lit up when he saw the shore” but using you, I usually don’t read those types of stories. Not too say it’s bad but the other 2 are better as I use them more I is like the reader puts themselves into the character’s shoes. I can start to imagine the scenes play within my head.
second-person narrative reminds me of those old-school dnd-text story games (i still play them sometimes lol). That’s probably why i love the “you” POVs so much in games where we make our own choices. It’s more immersive for me, and gives off a mysterious type vibe
I is like the reader puts themselves into the character’s shoes. I can start to imagine the scenes play within my head.