It's become a bad habit of mine to ask poor fanfic authors all kinds of questions (curious little thing, Helen is). This time they were the following ones:

1. Why did you choose 2nd-person POV for your story?

2. What do you think are this POV's advantages and disadvantages, its power and its weakness?

3. What did you feel was the most difficult thing when writing your story?

4. Do you tend to read other fanfic authors' 2nd-person stories?

5. Have you ever read a non-fanfic 2nd-person POV story?

Select an author name in the box below to read his/her answers.

1. Had I chosen a different main character, the story probably would have been in third or first, but because the events are seen through James Potter's eyes, I chose second. James Potter fascinates and eludes me. No other character in the books is so deified, practically to the point of becoming perfect in his martyrdom (except as seen through Snape's eyes). First-person was too close to a character that confuses me as is, and I also didn't think I was brave enough to attempt a first-person slash story. On the other hand, third-person seemed too distant. In order for the reader to accept James's feelings of self-loathing and denial, they had to be privy to his confused thoughts. Second-person POV opened James's mind to the reader, but I could still keep him at arm's length and provide the voice of conscience.
2. I for one do not believe that second-person POV brings the reader into the story. I believe it actually holds the reader further away from the narrator. In my favorite second-person novel, FREEWILL by Chris Lynch, the second voice is used as a constant, annoying question to Will, the narrator. Because of this POV, the reader has to listen to Will through a mental middleman. We have the advantage of seeing Will as he sees himself, a general advantage with this POV, but we can also form our own opinions of him because we're outside his eyes, something that is always a caveat with first-person POV. The weakness in this POV is that the writer has to acheive the balance of being both inside and outside the narrator's mind. I found writing in this point of view both psychologically and physically exhausting.
3. You just had to go and ask that. The most difficult part was coming to terms with what the fic meant to me. There's more reflection of my life and the people in it than anyone knows, and there were times when the personal nature of the story got very intense. Also, this is the first fic I've written where I didn't have the ending done when the fic began. Writing without a definite direction was something new for me, and I'm never going to attempt it again.
4. Yes, I do.
5. I have. The style of "Like the Finest Gold" is inspired by the novel I mentioned earlier, FREEWILL by Chris Lynch. I've also read BRIGHT LIGHTS BIG CITY by Jay MacInerney and DAMAGE by A.M. Jenkins.